Father-son duo arrested for raping twins for a year

Tuticorin, Jul 2: The Crime Branch-Crime Investigation Department (CBCID) of Tamil Nadu police have arrested five policemen working in Sathankulam police station in Tuticorin district for the murder of P. Jeyaraj and his son J. Bennicks, officials said.

The CBCID also altered the first information report (FIR) registered on the death of Jeyaraj and Bennicks as a murder case from the earlier charge of suspicious death.

The five arrested policemen are: Inspector Sridhar, Sub-Inspectors Balakrishnan and Raghu Ganesh, Head Constable Murugan and Constable Muthuraj.

Ganesh was remanded to custody till July 16 on late Wednesday.

According to Inspector General CBCID Shankar, 12 teams have been formed to carry out the probe into the custodial death of father and son Jeyaraj and Bennicks.

Jeyaraj and Bennicks had been booked for not closing their mobile shop in time on June 19 by the Sathankulam police. They were sent to judicial custody and lodged in Kovilpatti jail on June 21.

Jeyaraj died on June 22 night and Bennicks on June 23 morning in judicial custody, allegedly due to the police torture.

The Madras High Court Bench in Madurai which took up the case suo moto had said there was prima facie evidence to register a murder case against the Sathankulam police officials.

The Kovilpatti Judicial Magistrate M.S. Bharathidasan who was asked to inquire into the case of brutal torture of AJeyaraj and his son Bennicks by the Sathankulam police on June 19 and their subsequent deaths had submitted is report to the High Court.

A woman police constable Revathy, at the Sathankulam police station, in her deposition before Bharathidasan had said that Jeyaraj and Bennicks were beaten with batons throughout the June 19 night.

According to Bharathidasan's report, Revathy also said the victims' blood stains were on the batons of the station police officials and on tables.

She said the batons and the tables should be secured so that the evidence is not lost, the report stated.

Expressing fear that she may be targeted later, Revathy was initially reluctant to sign a printout of her statement but later on being assured of her safety she signed the document.

The court also transferred the probe into the deaths of Jeyaraj and Bennicks to the Crime Branch Crime Investigation Department (CBCID) to gather and protect the evidence till the case is handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The High Court has initiated criminal contempt cases against three police officials - Additional Superintendent of Police Kumar, Deputy Superintendent of Police Prathapan and constable Maharajan - for their behaviour at the Sathankulam police station in front of Magistrate Bharathidasan.

New Delhi, Jun 8: A 10-month-old girl allegedly lost her life in an accident in West Delhi's Tilak Nagar area, the police said on Sunday.

"The incident took place when the baby was in the compound of the parking area at the ground floor of her residence and the driver of Mercedes Benz was reversing the car," a police official said.

The deceased was identified as Radhika, whose father Rakesh used to work as the security guard in the said residence.

The unfortunate incident occurred at around 3.30 p.m. in the afternoon following which the baby was rushed to Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) Hospital where she was declared brought dead.

The owner of the said Mercedes Benz SUV is identified as Jassbir Singh who is into elevator business. At the time of the incident, his driver Akhilesh was driving the said vehicle.

"The offending vehicle has also been taken into possession and the FSL team is being summoned for inspection. Investigation in this matter is underway," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) West Delhi.

Bhubaneswar, Jul 5: Odisha Police have arrested five persons including groom for gross negligence and violation of COVID-19 guidelines during his marriage procession in Berhampur.

"A case has been registered for violation of COVID-19 guidelines for organising a marriage procession with more than 50 guests in the premises of a hotel. They disregarded the compulsory use of mask and flouted social distancing norms," DIG Central Zone Satyabrata Bhoi said.

The incident happened on July 2.
"The case has been registered at Gopalpur PS under section 188/269/270 IPC, R/W Sec- 3 Epidemic Disease Act, and 34 IPC. Two vehicles used in the procession have also been seized. the arrested persons will be produced in the court," he added.

The District Collector has sealed the hotel for violating the COVID-19 norms.

Following the incident, the Chief Minister's office tweeted: "Odisha is in a crucial phase in the fight against COVID-19, hence, it is very essential that we all obey guidelines and regulations issued by State Government to contain the spread of COVID-19. Violation of the same would lead to strong action."