Bail plea of Sattankulam case accused dismissed

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday dismissed the bail petition of suspended Inspector of Police S. Sridhar, one of the accused in the case of custodial deaths of trader P. Jayaraj and his son J. Benicks in Sattankulam in Thoothukudi district.

Taking into account the fact that the investigation in the case is in progress and at a crucial stage, Justice V. Bharathidasan dismissed the bail petition. The CBI, which is probing the case, opposed grant of bail to the accused.

The court observed that there were prima facie materials available on record to believe that the petitioner had committed the offence. The materials showed that it was at his instigation that his subordinates beat up the traders and caused serious injuries to them.

Considering the gravity of the offence and the position of the petitioner, there was reasonable apprehension that witnesses were likely to be influenced, as some of them were police personnel working in the same police station, the judge observed.

Earlier, the CBI submitted that false cases were registered against the traders. The post-mortem reports revealed multiple injuries on their bodies and the deaths were due to the blunt injuries sustained by them.

In her intervening petition, Selvarani, wife of Jayaraj, also opposed grant of bail to the accused. She apprehended that if the accused was let out on bail, key witnesses could be influenced and evidence could be tampered with.