A 28-year-old auto rickshaw driver died on Sunday night, after being allegedly assaulted by police officers inside the Maduravoyal police station.
The victims’ relatives staged a road roko following the incident and a magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the death.
According to police sources, on Sunday evening, Kathiravan alias Yesu, a resident of Mettukuppam in Vanagaram near Maduravoyal, had an argument with his girlfriend Ponni (35) outside her house in Alapakkam.
Local residents alerted the police, and a team from the Maduravoyal police station arrived at the spot, and took Kathiravan and Ponni to the police station.
“A little while later, Ponni was asked to go home but a policeman later called her on her phone and asked her to return to the station. When she came back, they asked her to take an unconscious Kathiravan to a private hospital nearby,” said G. Gopal, a relative of the victim.
Gopal added that doctors at the hospital declared Kathiravan dead on arrival.
“When we saw Kathiravan’s body at the Government Kilpauk Hospital, there were severe injuries visible on his waist and inner thigh. Kathiravan was a healthy man with no history of illness,” Gopal said.
Kathiravan’s relatives and residents of Mettukuppam then staged a road roko on Poonamallee High Road in Vanagaram on Sunday night and again on Monday morning, demanding immediate action against the police.
Police resorted to mild lathe charge to disperse the protesters.
Mohammed Farooq, magistrate, Poonamallee Court, is now probing the death.
A post-mortem examination of Kathiravan’s body is scheduled to be take place on Tuesday morning at the Government Kilpauk Hospital.
The article has been edited for clarity.
