A group of agitated inmates of Thoothukudi District Prison at Paeroorani allegedly assaulted the police personnel arrested in connection with the twin custodial deaths on Saturday evening forcing the authorities to shift them to Madurai Central Prison.
After the CB-CID, investigating the custodial death of trader P. Jayaraj and his son J. Benicks of Sattankulam, arrested Inspector of Police, Sattankulam, Sridhar, Sub-Inspectors Balakrishnan and Raghu Ganesh and head-constable Murugan and constable Muthuraj, all of them were remanded in judicial custody and lodged in the Thoothukudi District Prison at Paeroorani.
Though the capacity of this prison is 300, only 80 prisoners have been kept in the jail in view of COVID – 19 pandemic.
When the remanded policemen were reportedly discussing something this evening near the cells where they had been kept, a group of 30 prisoners, who are apparently following the case through the newspapers, thrashed them, sources said. The prison warders rescued them from the assaulters with great difficulty and moved them to safety.
Subsequently, the prison authorities decided to shift the suspended policemen to Madurai Central Prison instead of taking them to nearby Palayamkottai Central Jail where more than 1,000 prisoners – both convicts and remand prisoners – have been kept.
“If we lodge these police personnel in Palayamkottai Central Prison, protecting them from other prisoners will be the toughest job for our colleagues everyday. Hence, they were shifted to Madurai Central Prison, which is relatively a safer place for them, we believe,” explained a prison official.
