Times News Network
Thiruvananthapuram: A CBI special court here on Tuesday found five policemen guilty in the Udayakumar custodial death case. The 28-year-old man had died in the custody of Fort police here on September 27, 2005.
The first two accused – K Jithakumar and S V Sreekumar -- were found guilty of murder, causing hurt, destroying evidence and conspiracy while three other accused -- Ajith Kumar, E K Sabu and T K Haridas -- were found guilty of destroying evidence and conspiracy. Third accused in the case, V Soman, died during the course of trial while the court had exonerated fourth accused V P Mohanan earlier.
Judge J Nassar will deliver the sentence on Wednesday. The prosecution on Tuesday argued for the maximum punishment, saying the sentence should be a warning to other policemen especially when similar custodial tortures were being increasingly reported. The defence counsel have contended that all evidence against the accused were circumstantial in nature.
Police had taken Udayakumar into custody from Sreekanteswaram park on suspicion of theft and tortured to get a confession on the source of Rs 4,020 found in his pocket. His hands were tied using a towel and a galvanised iron pipe was used to knead his thighs, causing severe internal injuries that eventually led to his death.
The prosecution case said crime squad members Jitha Kumar and Sreekumar took Udayakumar into custody and tortured him to death with the assistance of Soman. The officers then entered into a consipiracy with sub inspector Ajith Kumar, circle inspector Sabu and assistant commissioner Haridas to create a new FIR by altering the time of arrest. Othe officers involved in altering evidence were later declared approvers after they agreed to depose against the accused.
