Thiruvananthapuram, Tuesday 14 December 2010: The state government on Tuesday permitted to prosecute three cops in connection with the custodial death of Udayakumar at the Fort Police Station in the capital city.

The CBI approached the Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate Court seeking permission to prosecute the then assistant commissioner and now DySP E K Sabu, sub inspector C Ajith Kumar and V P Mohanan.

Earlier report

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a charge sheet arraigning 14 police personnel as accused in the case relating to the custodial death of Udayakumar, before the Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate Court on September 27.

The accused included a Deputy Superintendent of Police and a Circle Inspector. The accused had been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including Section 302 (murder).

According to the CBI charge sheet, K. Jithukumar, S.V. Sreekumar and K.V. Soman, constables at the Fort police station in Thiruvananthapuram, found Udayakumar and his friend Suresh Kumar sitting at the Sreekandeswaram park in Thiruvananthapuram around 2.30 p.m. on September 27, 2005.

As Suresh Kumar was involved in a theft case and Udayakumar was found in possession of some money, Jithukumar and Sreekumar took Udayakumar and Suresh Kumar into custody and brought them to the Fort police station in an autorickshaw.

They were then taken to a room in the office of the then Circle Inspector E.K. Sabu. Udayakumar was interrogated with regard to the currency notes in his possession. He was subjected to brutal torture.

In order to extort a confession from Udayakumar, the first and third accused, in furtherance of a common intention to voluntarily cause grievous hurt to Udayakumar, subjected him to torture.

He was made to lie on his back on a bench and repeatedly beaten on the soles with a cane. Thereafter, an iron pipe was forcefully rolled down on his thighs, causing injuries to the thighs. According to the CBI, these acts were committed by the accused with the intention and knowledge that it would cause the death of Udayakumar. He died as a result of the torture at the Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram.

(With agency inputs)