Chennai: A 24-year-old youth, a suspect in a theft case and detained at the Esplanade police station, reportedly died in the station, late on Friday night.
The death of a suspect inside the police station has triggered a furore in the city with human rights activists accusing the police of using harsh to extract a confession from a suspect.
On their part, police sources said, they were questioning Jayakumar, when he developed a ‘seizure’ and collapsed inside the Esplanade police station premises. The police then took him to the Rajiv Gandhi government hospital, where doctors declared him ‘brought dead’.
Recalling the incident, sources said, sleuths of the crime wing of Esplanade police station took M. Jayakumar, a platform dweller into custody, in connection with a theft case. He was detained in the police station and was being questioned. During questioning, Jayakumar suffered a seizure and collapsed. Esplanade police station personnel informed their seniors about the incident.
The Esplanade police registered a case after his parents filed a complaint after his death. Police said Jayakumar was partially physically-challenged. A case under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) section 176 (Enquiry by Magistrate into cause of death) has been forwarded to the court to probe into the cause of death. The body has been sent for postmortem. Further investigations are on.
Preliminary investigations revealed that two men, Ajith and Vicky, both chain snatching suspects, were nabbed by police, and based on their information, police had taken Jayakumar also for enquiry. Police claim that Jayakumar had reportedly admitted to the crime and took them to Kasimedu, where he had hidden the stolen items.
However, inspector of the police station, Gunasekharan, was transferred to the control room following this incident. George Town magistrate, Ananth, visited Rajiv Gandhi hospital and interrogated about the case. “It is a clear case of custodial death,” claim activists.
