A special sub-inspector (SSI) and a head constable attached to the Alandurai police station have been moved to the Coimbatore rural armed reserve for failing to save the life of a man who was beaten to death by 10 people, suspecting him to be a thief.
The action was initiated against SSI Kanagaraj and special branch head constable Kanagaraj.
According to the police, a man, who is yet to be identified, attempted to break into a house of Kaliappan at Chithirai Chavadi on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.
Kaliappan, his son Viswanathan and son-in-law Sampathkumar beat up the man after tying him to a tree. Later seven neighbours also assaulted him. After finding the man felt unconscious, they shifted him in a vehicle around 4 a.m. on Tuesday and dumped in River Noyyal, said the police.
The police on Wednesday arrested 10 persons, including Kaliappan, Viswanathan and Sampathkumar.
An SSI Thangaraj had received information when the man was in the custody of the group. He immediately alerted SSI Kanagaraj who was on a patrol in the area. Kanagaraj went to the place and found the man tied up and beaten up. The SSI left the place after, allegedly asking the group to produce the man, who spoke Hindi, at the police station on Tuesday morning. The special branch head constable Kanagaraj, who had come to know about the incident, failed to report to his superiors, said police source.