Chennai, Mar 27 (UNI) A senior Tamil Nadu police officer was shunted
out on Monday following allegations of meting out third degree torture
to a group of persons accused in an 'attempt to murder' case in the
southern Tirunelveli district of the state.
Police said a serious charge was levelled against Ambasamudram
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Balveer Singh, when a
group of persons, accused in an “attempt to murder” case, alleged
that he broke their teeth and crushed the testicles of two of them
at the Kallidaikurichi police station on March 23.
Tirunelveli District Superintendent of Police P.Saravanan said he
came to know about the allegation on social media on Saturday,
and the matter was referred to the Tirunelveli Collector for an
independent inquiry.
Considering the nature of the allegation, the mattered has been
referred to the District Magistrate under Section 151 of the Police
Standing Order,” he said.
A Deputy Superintendent was also conducting an inquiry, he said.
Even as a departmental probe was on, Southern Zone Inspector
General of Police Asra Garg shunted out Balveer Singh from the
post put on vacancy reserve.
Police said a group of persons were arrested on charges of attempt
to murder and were interrogated by the police on March 23.
In the video message posted on the social media, three members
of the group narrated their ordeal of third degree torture by
Mr. Balveer Singh.
One of them said the ASP, who was in uniform when they were
taken to the police station, changed to plainclothes. “He asked
his gun-man and another cop to hold my hands. He broke my
tooth with a huge gravel. Later, he put the broken pieces into
my mouth and slapped me until my lips started bleeding,” he
alleged.
The others were also subjected to similar torture, he said.
Later, the police crushed the testicles of one of them. “As we
pleaded with him to spare one of us, who was recently married,
the police subjected him to the same degree of torture,” he said.
The victims also said they were beaten with lathis. One of them
showed a big scar on his shoulder, alleged to have been caused
by the assault with lathi.
The victims said they feared more torture at the hands of police
for revealing the custodial torture.
UNI GV 1515