Man remanded in Nagapattinam sub jail dies due to 'alcohol withdrawal'

NAGAPATTINAM: A 44-year-old man, who was arrested on June 9, died in Nagapattinam General Hospital on Monday while in judicial custody. Police had arrested J Sivasubramaniyan for allegedly assaulting a woman and her son.

He was produced before a magistrate and remanded to the Nagapattinam sub jail for judicial custody but fell "ill" and was admitted to the Nagapattinam Government General Hospital on June 10.

While police claimed he might have died due to withdrawal from alcohol, BJP president K Annamalai on Twitter raised concerns about Sivasubramaniyan's death. "He was an alcoholic and had health issues like epilepsy. We suspect his condition worsened due to the withdrawal," Nagapattinam SP G Jawahar said. 

Victim was treated well: Cops

The Superintendent of Police added, "We interrogated the officials who handled the case, and investigated the footage from CCTV cameras, at the police station on the day he was brought to the station. He was not subjected to any physical abuse and was treated well."

Nagapattinam SP G Jawahar added that a case has been registered under Section 176 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the next course of action in the case will be taken based on the report submitted by the magistrate who conducts the investigation into the case. An autopsy has been conducted and a magistrate has questioned the family.

Sivasubramaniyan, a native of Kothamangalam, worked at a cycle repair shop near Thirumarugal, and allegedly helped his employer, RK Raj, collect interest from people who had borrowed money from Raj's family.

On June 6, Raj, his son Ganesh, Sivasubramaniyan, and another man allegedly verbally abused and assaulted a woman and her family for seeking more time to repay her dues. The Thittacheri Police registered a case against the men but Ganesh, Raj, and Sivasubramaniyan allegedly absconded. While Ganesh and Raj received anticipatory bail, Sivasubramaniyan landed in the police net.