In a significant development, forensic expert Thomas Alex told a special court here on Saturday that he had noted bloodstain on the bench on which Udayakumar, a detainee, was allegedly tortured to death in the Fort police station in 2005.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had cited Mr. Thomas, a former Assistant Director of the State Forensic Sciences Laboratory here, as a witness in the custodial torture case that had caused an uproar in society.
Blood on a metal pipe
In September 2005, the police had taken Mr. Thomas to collect evidence from the scene of the crime, a room adjacent to the office of the circle inspector, Fort. He said he had taken blood stain swabs for serological examination. He found blood on a hollow metal pipe allegedly used to inflict the fatal crush injuries seen on Udayakumar’s thighs.
K. Sreekumari, professor, forensic medicine, Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, had conducted the post-mortem examination on Udayakumar’s body in the presence of the Revenue Divisional Officer. She told CBI Special Judge J. Nazar that the injuries found on Udayakumar’s thighs were congruent with wounds that could be potentially inflicted using the iron pipe the CBI had produced as the alleged murder weapon.
The CBI’s case was that constables K. Jithukumar and S.V. Sreekumar had apprehended Udayakumar along with his friend Suresh Kumar from Sreekanteswaram Park around 2 p.m. on September 27, 2005. Suresh was a history-sheeter with a long police record of petty theft. Their suspicion was aroused when they found ₹4,000 with Udayakumar.
The prosecution case was that the constables along with another colleague K.V. Soman bound Udayakumar to the bench spreadeagled and inflicted crush injuries on his thighs purportedly to extract a confession.
Three women police constables, officers on sentry duty and those in charge of the State General Diary, stated that they had seen the accused officers escorting out Udayakumar in a weakened state. The same night, the police rushed Udayakumar to the hospital where he was pronounced brought dead.
The CBI booked the three constables on suspicion of wilful murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The agency also subsequently charged the then Assistant Commissioner, Fort, T.K. Haridas, circle inspector E.K. Sabu and sub-inspector Ajith Kumar with the destruction of evidence in the case. The prosecution alleged they had fudged station records after Udayakumar's death to absolve themselves of vicarious responsibility in the case.
