The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) informed the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday that as per the post-mortem examination reports, 17 injuries were found on the body of trader P. Jayaraj and 13 injuries on the body of his son J. Benicks, who died of alleged custodial torture at the Sattankulam police station recently.
During the hearing of the bail petitions of the policemen accused in the case, the CBI submitted that the cause of the deaths was the blunt injuries sustained by Jayaraj and Benicks. So far, 38 witnesses have been examined in the case and the investigation is under way. The investigation resumed after a hiatus, as most of the CBI officials probing the case had tested positive for COVID-19.
Further, it was submitted by the CBI that suspended policemen Murugan, Muthuraj and Thomas Francis, who had filed the bail petitions, were involved in the custodial torture of the father-son duo. It was said that Jayaraj and Benicks were arrested by the police based on a false complaint.
In an intervening petition, Selvarani, wife of Jayaraj, opposed the grant of bail to the accused policemen. She apprehended that the evidence could be tampered with, if the accused were released.
Justice V. Bharathidasan observed that the bail petitions were filed when the investigation was at a preliminary stage. After counsel for the accused agreed to withdraw, the petition was dismissed.
