The CB-CID police, investigating the alleged custodial torture of suspects by suspended Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Balveer Singh, have registered one more case against him and his sub-ordinates of the Kallidaikurichi police station.
Based on a complaint lodged by by Surya of Zamin Singampatti, the CB-CID Police Inspector Ulagarani has registered a first information report (FIR) against Mr. Singh, former Inspector of Kallidaikurichi police station Rajakumari and constables Ramalingam and Joseph, who all have been placed in ‘vacancy reserve’ after these serious charges surfaced in March. It was a video clip by Surya, shared on social media, with details about the custodial torture he underwent at the Kallidaikurichi police station that first led to the investigation.
With this, the investigating agency has registered its fourth case against Mr. Singh under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt with dangerous weapon), 326 (voluntarily causing dangerous hurt with dangerous weapon) and 506 (1) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
Surya, who was picked up by the police for reportedly damaging CCTV cameras installed in public places, accused Mr. Singh of uprooting his teeth with cutting pliers. Surya was detained after a video of his damaging CCTV cameras was shared to the police, by an individual, ‘Teashop’ Murugan.
However, once the investigation began, Surya contradicted the allegations he had made against the police when he appeared before Sub-Collector of Cheranmahadevi Mohammed Shabbir Alam, who was appointed by District Collector K.P. Karthikeyan to probe the allegations against Mr. Singh and others. At that point, he maintained that his teeth got damaged as he had fallen down accidentally.
Later however, in another U-turn, he filed a complaint with the Kallidaikurichi police station against Mr. Singh and others after a probe by senior IAS officer P. Amudha was ordered by the Tamil Nadu government.
