M. Sudheer, a senior professor of Madras Medical College, who was incarcerated in a fabricated case, has walked out of Lucknow jail, thanks to the joint efforts of the city police and his colleagues.
The police personnel from Uttar Pradesh, who came to the city and arrested the professor, have been suspended.
Dr. Sudheer borrowed ₹20 lakh from M. Kamaraj, a money lender from Purasawalkam, in 2011 at a usurious rate of interest. The money lender demanded that he repay ₹40 lakh. When he failed to do so, the professor was threatened and harassed. The professor then lodged a complaint with the Teynampet police.
In order to coerce the professor into paying more, Kamaraj conspired with his accomplices in Lucknow and filed a fabricated case against Dr. Sudheer with the Aliganj police. Based on the complaint, a police team came to Chennai and arrested the professor on February 24. He was then taken to Lucknow by flight and tortured by Kamaraj and his accomplices — Sarfaroz Ahamed and Piyush Mishra — in a house before he was lodged in a Lucknow prison.
When the matter was taken up with Police Commissioner S. George by colleagues of the professor, Kamaraj was arrested on charges of demanding a high rate of interest and for criminal intimidation.
Case in U.P.
Additional Commissioner of Police K. Shankar told The Hindu , “Kamaraj confessed to having engaged his accomplices in Lucknow to file the case against the professor. The confessional statement was forwarded to the Lucknow police and the court there. We also approached the U.P. police. The U.P. police officers looked into the matter and admitted that there was a lapse on the part of the personnel there.”
The Lucknow police have registered a case against Kamaraj and his accomplices. “Our team went to Lucknow and brought him to Chennai after a court granted him bail,” said Mr. Shankar.
