Palakkad: The Crime Branch on Tuesday arrested L. Surendran, former deputy commandant of Armed Reserve Camp at Kallekkad, in connection with the suicide of tribal civil police officer N.K. Kumar of Attappadi. It was alleged that Kumar had faced caste abuse at the hands of his senior officers and colleagues at the AR camp. Kumars’ wife Rajani had earlier complained that her husband was subjected to physical and mental torture by senior police officers and his colleagues who verbally abused him over his caste. She also alleged that Kumar was given additional duty without proper rest.
She added that he was made to remove his clothes before other officers. He was not allotted quarters as he per his request.
Kumar in his suicide note had also mentioned the names of a few police officers who tortured him.
Surendran, who retired on July 31, was earlier accused of deploying policemen on duty at the worksite of his house under construction in Palakkad. A news channel had also aired the visuals of AR camp policemen doing manual labour at the site.
The body of Kumar was found near the railway track at Lakkiddi on July 25. Based on a preliminary inquiry, seven police personnel were suspended by district police chief G. Siva Vikram.
The case was subsequently handed over to the Crime Branch which registered cases against the accused officials and submitted a report to the Scheduled Tribes special court.
The CB registered Surendran’s arrest after summoning him to its office and questioning him in detail. Surendran was later produced before the special court judge.
