High drama at court building as police attempt to ‘take away’ murder accused

High drama was witnessed at the judicial magistrate court building here on Tuesday evening, as a team of police personnel from Singanallur police station in Coimbatore district allegedly tried to take away a murder case accused who came to surrender before the magistrate.

Santhosh (29), an accused in the murder of an auto driver, came with his lawyer K. Natarajan to the court to surrender. The police team from Singanallur, headed by Inspector Muneeswaran, came to the court, as Mr. Natarajan had informed the police in the morning about his client’s intention to surrender. When a few policemen from the team tried to take him away, Santhosh started resisting. As the lawyers present on the premises opposed the move, the policemen left him.

Mr. Natarajan said that it was an illegal act by the police to forcibly take away a person from inside a court building where he had come to surrender. The magistrate reprimanded the police personnel and their superior officers were informed of this for appropriate action, he said.

“My client has no direct involvement in the murder except the police accusing links with a vehicle used by the first three accused in the case. He opted to surrender in Tirupur, coming from Kuniamuthur in Coimbatore, because of the fear of alleged police excess on the three accused after their arrest,” said Mr. Natarajan.