Jayaraj-Fennix custodial deaths: 3 more Tamil Nadu police officers arrested on murder charges

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The CB-CID, tasked with probing the death of a father-son duo who were allegedly brutally beaten up in police custody in Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin, on Wednesday (July 1) arrested three more cops, including Sub Inspector Balakrishnan and constables Muthuraj and Murugan. A total of four police officials have been arrested in connection with this case so far. P Jayaraj (father) and J Fennix (son) were brutally thrashed in police custody in Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi district. Jayaraj and Femm, aka Fennix, were booked for not closing their mobile shop in time on June 19 by the Sathankulam police.

Sub Inspector Ragu Ganesh, who was in suspension, was the first police officials to be arrested in connection with this case. The FIR filed in this case names six cops of the Sathankulam Police Station as the accused in this case and all have been charged under IPC section 302.  

They father-son duo were remanded in judicial custody and lodged in Kovilpatti jail on June 21. Jayaraj died on June 22 night and his son Fennix (Benicks) on June 23 morning in judicial custody. 

On June 30, the Madras High Court had directed the investigating agency's Tirunelveli DSP Anil Kumar to probe the death of the father-son duo. CB-CID officials led by Kumar conducted enquiries with the family members of the deceased, besides in the locality where the duo ran their cellphone shop.

CB-CID sleuths also visited the Sathankulam police station, since brought under the Revenue department as directed by the High Court. The incident had triggered a nationwide furore, leading to the suspension of five policemen, including an inspector and two Sub-Inspectors. The Madras High Court had directed a CB-CID probe into the matter although the state government had transferred the case to the CBI.