Kochi: Four officers of Varapuzha police station, who were arraigned as accused by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the custodial death case, surrendered before the Judicial First Class magistrate court in North Paravur here on Monday.
The court granted conditional bail to Assistant Sub Inspectors Jayanandan and Santosh Baby besides Civil Police Officers Sunil Kumar and Sreeraj. They were granted bail on payment of Rs one lakh each in addition to personal sureties.
Further, they were directed to appear before the investigation team as and when required. The prosecution too did not seek their immediate custody. It was Jayanandan who was in charge of the Varapuzha police station on April 6 when the deceased youth was taken into custody. He took charge of the station in the absence of Sub Inspector G.S. Deepak, who had been away on leave.
The four were present at the station when the youth was subjected to custodial torture at the lock-up. They were also suspected to have a role in making forged documents showing the arrest as made only on April 7 morning, according to the chargesheet. The Crime Branch so far arraigned nine police personnel, including North Paravur Circle Inspector Crispin Sam and Varappuzha Sub Inspector G.S. Deepak as accused in the case.
