A Madurai court on Monday, March 23, convicted nine police officers for the brutal custodial killing of P Jeyaraj and his son J Benniks at the Sathankulam police station in Thoothukudi district in June 2020. All nine police officers have been found guilty of murder. The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on March 30.

The father and son, who were mobile phone retailers, were illegally arrested on false charges and subjected to a brutal assault by a group of policemen, so savage that the CBI later found their blood splattered across the walls of the police station.

Judge G Muthukumaran of the First Additional District and Sessions Court in Madurai has found Inspector S Sridhar, sub-inspectors P Raghu Ganesh and K Balakrishnan; head constables S Murugan and A Saamidurai; and constables M Muthuraj, S Chelladurai, Thomas X and S Veilumuthu, guilty of murder. 

The court said that Sridhar had instructed the others to assault the duo, adding that they had a father and son to practise beating on.

A tenth accused in the case, special sub-inspector Pauldurai, died after contracting COVID-19.

58-year-old P Jeyaraj and his 31-year-old son J Benniks, were arrested on June 19, 2020. Within days of being taken into custody, both men died at the Kovilpatti Government Hospital on June 22 and 23, 2020. Though the police claimed the shop had been kept open after covid curfew hours, CCTV visuals that emerged at the time, clearly showed the police had been lying. They reached the shop before the curfew began, and took Jeyaraj to the police station. His son Benniks followed them on a bike. 

According to the........

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