CBI begins probe into Sattankulam case

Team makes enquiries at Jayaraj’s house, Benicks’s shop

A banner condemning the killing of Jayaraj and Benicks hangs near the Kamaraj statue in Sattankulam.

A team from the Central Bureau of Investigation on Saturday commenced its investigation into the Sattankulam twin custodial deaths case.

The CBI team first went to Jayaraj’s house at 11.40 a.m. and talked to his wife J. Selvarani, who was inconsolable. She recalled the sequence of events that led to the custodial death of her husband and Benicks, her only son, due to alleged torture by the Sattankulam police on June 19.

The team also met Jayaraj’s daughters Beulah and Berlin and other close relatives who were with Ms. Selvarani when she pleaded with the Sattankulam police to release her husband and the son.

The investigators also visited Benicks’s mobile phone shop from where Jayaraj was picked-up by the police.

While a few team members continued their inquiry in Jayaraj’s house even beyond 5.30 p.m., others went to the Sattankulam Government Hospital along with Jayaraj’s brother-in-law Joseph, who can speak Hindi.

Spot videographed

The investigators videographed the spot where Jayaraj and Benicks were seated on arriving at the hospital on June 19, the out patient section, CCTV cameras installed in the hospital, the dispensary and the way to the trauma care unit. The team also talked to Medical Officer Authikumar and other staff of the hospital.

The CBI team, however, did not talk to Benicks’s elder sister Persis, as she and her two daughters are down with chickenpox. “As today [Saturday] is the third day of the viral infection, my wife and my children feel better,” said Augustine, husband of Ms. Persis. Two CB-CID officials accompanied the CBI team to help them in the investigation.

Meanwhile, Kovilpatti Judicial Magistrate M.S. Bharathidasan questioned the prisoners and authorities of Kovilpatti sub-jail in connection with the custodial murder.

The Judicial Magistrate, during a three-hour-long stay, quizzed the prisoners, who were lodged along with Jayaraj and Benicks from June 20 to 22.

Mr. Bharathidasan, who had earlier visited the jail on July 9 for inquiry, also grilled the prison authorities about the health condition of the father and son and the injuries they had sustained when they were handed over to them on June 20.