A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the custodial death of K. Sheik Alaudeen (28), who was arrested by police on Sunday after he made an attempt to escape from them by jumping from a road bridge and died while being taken to the hospital after interrogation.
Judicial Magistrate II A. Kannan began the inquiry on Monday, a day after Erwadi Dargah police registered a First Information Report (FIR) under Section 176 (1-A) (a person dies while in the custody of police) and referred it to the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) for magistrate inquiry.
After CJM K. Jayaraj perused the FIR and nominated Mr. Kannan to conduct the inquiry, the latter visited the Government Headquarters Hospital here, where the body of the deceased was kept, and conducted the inquest. He also interacted with the family members of the deceased.
Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police N. Manivannan appointed Deputy Superintendent of Police (Prohibition and Enforcement Wing) Asokan as the investigating officer in the case. The SP said the police were complying with all the norms laid down by National Human Rights Commission in this case. Tension prevailed for a while at the hospital where the family members, relatives and a large number of residents of Mayakulam, the native place of the deceased, gathered, pressing for various demands for accepting the body.
After Assistant Superintendent of Police S. Sarvesh Raj explained to them that the SP had appointed a DSP as investigating officer and made arrangements for conducting the post-mortem by a team of doctors and videograph the process, they accepted the body in the evening. On the demand for compensation, the SP suggested that the family members present a petition to the Collector.
After securing his arrest, a police team was interrogating Alaudeen at Erwadi Dargah police station on Sunday evening, when he complained of uneasiness. He was rushed to the hospital, but died on the way. He had been detained twice under the Goondas Act, the police said.
