Coimbatore: Prison authorities have issued memos to the chief warder and two other warders of the Coimbatore Centre Prison, where a remand prisoner was murdered by his fellow inmate on Tuesday.
M Vijay, 19, bludgeoned M Ramesh, 46, to death with a stone after a quarrel. The two were lodged in the prison in May after being arrested in different cases. They were also undergoing psychiatric treatment in the prison hospital and lodged in an isolated tower.
While it was revealed during the investigation that there was a quarrel between them about an hour before the murder, the prison officials denied the same and said the incident had taken place out of a sudden provocation caused by the aggravated mental depression.
“We are probing the case and have sought explanation from the warders,” said a senior official with the prison department. The prison authorities have sought an explanation from the chief warder, Munusamy, and warders Saravanan and Adhi Karupasamy, who were incharge of the isolated tower.
Action would be taken against the trio based on their explanation to the memos and postmortem report, the official said. Mostly likely, they would be suspended.
Meanwhile, the judicial magistrate III, V P Velusamy, who is investigating the case, visited the prison on Wednesday. According to the sources, the magistrate conducted inquiry with the prison authorities and the kin of the deceased.
The magistrate also met doctors to know about the health condition of the inmates, the source said and added that the first information report (FIR) was submitted to him.
The body of the deceased was handed over to the relatives after the postmortem. The cause of death was found to be severe injury in head and profuse bleeding. The autopsy report would be handed over directly to the magistrate, the source said.