Custodial deaths: Accused tortured for 7 hours : CBI

Chennai: The CBI chargesheet filed against the nine police officers involved in the death of father-son Jayaraj and Bennicks at the Sattankulam police station in Tamil Nadu has stated that material evidence collected from the station premises had established that "brutal torture" was inflicted upon them for 7 hours.

"It is evident from the expert opinion of CFSL, New Delhi that the blood available on the material objects seized from the police station Sathankulam - wooden lathis used by the accused persons for brutal torture of both the deceased and the bloodstains exhibits collected from the walls and floor of PS Sathankulam by FSL during judicial inquiry contain the blood of the deceased Bennicks and Jeyaraj on the same," the chargesheet said.

"Thus, the fact that deceased Bennicks and Jeyaraj were subjected to brutal torture by the accused police officials in the evening of 19.06.2020 and the intervening night of 19.06.2020 in the police station Sathankulam, stands established," read the chargesheet.

It added that both Jeyaraj and Bennicks were tortured inside the police station between 7:45 pm on June 19 and 3 am the next day.

The chargesheet further detailed how the two were subjected to several rounds of beatings with policemen holding their hands and legs while blows were rained on their backsides.

The station's inspector S. Sridhar was charged with repeatedly instigating his subordinates to beat the father and son even more severely, whenever there was a lull in the torture, the CBI stated.