Chief Minister M.K. Stalin announced in the Assembly on Wednesday that he had issued instructions to suspend Balveer Singh, the former Assistant Superintendent of Police of the Ambasamudram sub-division in Tirunelveli district, who was recently accused of custodial torture and placed in vacancy reserve.
Responding to a special calling attention motion, moved by legislators of various parties, he said he had announced even earlier in the Assembly that the government would not make any compromise when it came to the violation of human rights at police stations.
He pointed out that the officer was earlier placed in vacancy reserve, following the initiation of an inquiry by the Sub-Collector of Cheranmahadevi. Further action would be taken on the basis of the findings of the inquiry.
Mr. Singh, a 2020 batch IPS officer, was accused by a few suspects — who were taken to the Kallidaikurichi police station for an inquiry in an attempt to murder case — of brutal torture, including the breaking of their teeth and crushing of testicles, last week.
A number of MLAs who spoke on the motion urged that the young IPS officer be removed from service and a criminal case filed against him.
Meanwhile, in a curious turn, Surya, 28, one of the alleged custodial torture victims, who was the first to accuse Mr. Balveer Singh of pulling out his teeth, did a volte-face on Wednesday during an inquiry by Mohammed Shabbir Alam, Sub-Collector, Cheranmahadevi. He claimed his teeth was broken after an accidental fall. However, a few other victims stood by their charge that the young IPS officer had meted out brutal treatment to them. “I lost my teeth as I accidentally fell on the ground,” said the resident of Zamin Singampatti under the Kallidaikurichi police limits.
After recording his statement, Mr. Surya told journalists that he had appeared before the inquiry commission as he was summoned and he lost his teeth as he fell on the ground accidentally.
When Mr. Surya boarded the official vehicle of the Tahsildar, Cheranmahadevi, along with his friend, to go to the government hospital to get the teeth examined by doctors there, journalists asked him repeatedly whether he was under pressure or threat from the police or he was paid for contradicting his earlier allegations. “I neither took money nor am under pressure from the police,” he replied.
Joseph, sub-inspector, Kallidaikurichi, recorded his statement before the Sub-Collector in the evening.
In the evening, seven more victims — Esakkimuthu; his brothers Chellappa and Mariappan; Antony; Veda Narayanan; Suresh; and Subhash — all from Ambasamudram, Kallidaikurichi, Sivanthipuram and Thoothukudi, arrived at the Cheranmahadevi Sub-Collector’s office to record their statements.
However, only Subhash was allowed to record his statement as he alone had been summoned to appear before the Sub-Collector. The others were told that they would be summoned later after they filed their complaints. Mr. Esakkimuthu and his younger brother, Mr. Chellappa, told reporters that they were picked up by the Vickramasingapuram police when they caught an armed gang that tried to attack them. “After being brought to the Vickramasingapuram police station, Mr. Balveer Singh kicked us, the complainants, and broke our teeth. When we were produced in court, we were under extreme pressure from the police who said our family members would be targeted if we revealed anything about the custodial torture. We want justice for the torture we suffered,” Mr. Esakkimuthu said.
Mr. Veda Narayanan, an autorickshaw driver of Vikramasingapuram who went to the station for an inquiry following a complaint against him from his wife, alleged that Mr. Balveer Singh kicked him, broke his teeth with a stone and punched his right ear with a pair of pliers. Advocate Maharajan, who is assisting the victims, said he had lost his faith in the Sub-Collector-led inquiry as he was “not conducting the inquiry in a fair manner”. “While allowing Mr. Surya, who was not summoned for the inquiry today, to record his statements, the Sub-Collector did not allow the others to give their statements and asked them to file a complaint first for getting summoned... So, we have lost our faith in this inquiry. Either the Collector or a retired judge should conduct the inquiry to render justice to the victims,” he said.
Tirunelveli Collector K.P. Karthikeyan had ordered an inquiry by Mr. Alam against Mr. Balveer Singh.
Murder of AIADMK functionary
Earlier, in the Assembly, during the special calling attention motion, another issue of law and order was raised by Leader of the Opposition and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami. He pointed to the murder of AIADMK Perambur South secretary Ilangovan, alias Vyasai Ilangovan, by a gang on Monday.
Mr. Palaniswami said there were reports that he was killed by a few peddling ganja for having opposed their drug-trafficking. He alleged that the murder was indicative of the deteriorating law and order situation in the State.Mr. Stalin responded that the police had swiftly arrested five persons, including a juvenile, for the murder. An investigation revealed that the murder was due to enmity between Ilangovan and the key suspect, Sanjay. The investigation so far did not reveal anything about Ilangovan opposing the sale of ganja, he said.
The Chief Minister said the number of murders in the State had come down to 1,596 under DMK rule in 2022, compared with 1,670 during AIADMK rule in 2018.
