Man dies at hospital while in judicial custody in Nagapattinam, police claim ‘alcohol withdrawal’
POSTED ON JUNE 15, 2022
A 44-year-old man, detained for questioning by the Nagapattinam district police, died allegedly in judicial custody on Monday. This is the second alleged custodial death in Tamil Nadu in two days. The deceased was identified as Siva Subramanian, a resident of Panangattur village in Nagapattinam district and employed at a cycle repair shop. According to the police, Subramanian was arrested on a complaint of physical assault. He had accompanied his brother Ganesh and another man named Rajagopal to meet Venkatesh, who had borrowed Rs 95,000 from Ganesh. Following an altercation, Subramanian allegedly attacked Venkatesh and he was arrested on June 9 following the latter’s complaint to the police.
Police claim Subramanian suffered seizures inside the sub-jail and was taken to Nagapattinam Government Hospital for treatment where he died at the hospital on Monday evening. G Jawahar, Superintendent of Police, Nagapattinam, told reporters, “We interrogated the police officials who handled the case and investigated the footage from CCTV cameras, at the police station on the day he was brought to the station. He was not subjected to any physical abuse and was treated well.”
Nagapattinam SP added, “He was an alcoholic and had health issues like epilepsy. We suspect his condition worsened due to withdrawal.” An autopsy was conducted and a magistrate-led inquiry is underway. BJP state president K Annamalai slammed the DMK government over suspected custodial deaths in the state, claiming there were ‘seven lock-up deaths in the last one year.’ He asked, “What is the status of the commission set up for reforms to be carried out in the police?”
On Sunday, a Dalit man named Rajasekar who was arrested in connection with a theft case in Chennai was found dead in custody. Five police personnel were suspended following the incident. On April 19, a young man named V Vignesh, who was arrested along with a friend, for possessing alcohol and drugs during a vehicle-check died as a result of alleged police torture. The autopsy report revealed that the man suffered multiple injuries and fractures. The family members of the deceased claimed the police offered Rs 1 lakh in exchange for maintaining silence over the matter. Later, the Crime Branch-CID of the police arrested six officers on murder charges in connection with the incident.
Courtesy : News9live
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