Tamil Nadu State Human Rights Commission orders probe into Ambasamudram custodial torture allegations

Taking cognizance of a report published in The Hindu, the SHRC directed the Inspector-General of Police/Director, Investigation Wing to look into the issue of a police officer breaking the teeth of suspects in custody, and submit a report in six weeks

Ambasamudram ASP Balveer Singh. Photo: Special Arrangement

The State Human Rights Commission has ordered an investigation into allegations that Ambasamudram Assistant Superintendent of Police Balveer Singh broke the teeth of suspects in custody.

Taking cognisance of a report published by The Hindu, the SHRC directed the Inspector-General of Police/Director, Investigation Wing, to probe the incident and submit a report in six weeks.

On Monday, Mr. Singh, a 2020-batch IPS officer, was placed in ‘vacancy reserve’, pending an inquiry.

The suspects in a case of attempt to murder had accused Mr. Singh of “breaking their teeth with blue metal and uprooting it with cutting plier” following their detention for interrogation on March 23. Two separate inquiries, one by the Tirunelveli district administration, and one by the police, are under way.

According to one of them, Mr. Singh directed other police personnel to hold him while the officer broke his tooth. The police allegedly crushed the private parts of a suspect, despite pleas for them to stop. The victims also said they were beaten with lathis, and one of them showed a scar on his shoulder, alleged to have been caused by a lathi.