Four police personnel attached to the Kalady station have been suspended pending an inquiry into a complaint of custodial torture.
The officers facing action are Sub-Inspectors Ajmal and Nisar K.V., senior civil police officer Rajith Rajan and civil police officer Dhanesh K.R. Ernakulam Range DIG Yathish Chandra G.H. issued the suspension order on Sunday (September 6) based on an internal inquiry report from District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural) K.S. Sudarshan.
The action was initiated following a complaint lodged by Sujith Jayan, 32, a resident of Sreemoolanagaram near Aluva who works as a taxi driver at Cochin International Airport.
In his complaint to Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, Mr. Sujith alleged that the four police officers brutally assaulted him after taking him into custody from his house on September 2 as part of an investigation into a case involving one of his friends.
According to the DIG’s order, the internal inquiry found that Mr. Sujith had been taken into custody illegally and detained at the Kalady station from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. without the details being entered in the general diary or his relatives being informed.
A lawyer representing Mr. Sujith said further legal action would be pursued against the policemen over the alleged illegal detention, custodial torture and atrocities against members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
