The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday dismissed the bail petition filed by the suspended Inspector of Police S. Sridhar, the prime accused in the Sattankulam custodial deaths case of trader P. Jayaraj and his son J. Benicks.
Justice P. Vadamalai observed Sridhar was involved in the heinous, brutal murder of Jayaraj and Benicks who were beaten with ‘lathi’ in the lock-up when they were brought to the police station in connection with some other offence. After they were remanded in judicial custody, they fell ill and died in the hospital. The medical officers of the Forensic Medicine and Toxicology Department of Tirunelveli Government Medical College Hospital gave the final opinion that both appeared to have died of complications of blunt injury sustained. So, the alleged charges against the petitioner are serious in nature. Moreover, the case is admittedly almost at the end of the trial, the court observed.
