Two policemen have been suspended in connection with the custodial death of an accused in a police station here and the final report of a Magistrate-led inquiry was being awaited for further action, Tamil Nadu government today informed the state Assembly.
Replying to the special call attention motion brought by opposition parties, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa said the accused had complained of chest pain few minutes before he was to be produced in a court. Though he was taken to a private hospital, he was declared dead by them.
The accused Gopal has two murder cases, one attempt to murder case and four other cases pending against him in various police stations in North Chennai and has also been detained under Goondas Act in 2013 and had come out only last month, she said.
A request for Magistrate-led inquiry has been sent as mandated under Section 176 (1-A) of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and only after its final report further actions would be taken, Jayalalithaa said.
A total of 20 persons have died in police custody in 2013 and 2014.
While three of them had been beaten up severely by the public before the police took their custody, another four and three were drunk and committed suicide respectively, she said.
While police had to use power as the accused attacked the policemen, in another the accused died after he was let off from the police station, she said.
In one incident, the accused collapsed and died after he was caught red-handed by the police while indulging in robbery.
"In the remaining six incidents, the accused died in the police stations only following illness. Autopsy in five cases revealed they five died of cardiac arrest, suffocation following epilepsy. In many cases, judiciary has said in its reports that police is not the responsible for these deaths," Jayalalithaa said.
