Yesterday, the body of Ajith Kumar was recovered, and due to alleged threats, a case—made possible through the relentless efforts of lawyers—was finally submitted before the Magistrate. The complete details of the case are as follows:
Ajith Kumar, a 29-year-old man from Madapuram Nadar Street in Sivagangai District, son of Balagurunathan Nadar, was employed as a contract security guard at the Ayyanar and Bhadrakali Amman temples in Madapuram.
On Friday, the 27th of June, around 11 a.m., a woman and her daughter arrived in a car and requested a wheelchair due to mobility issues. Ajith Kumar helped them and was asked to move the car to another location. As he did not know how to drive, he sought help from a friend and parked the car elsewhere. Around 12 p.m., after finishing their worship, the women retrieved their car and left.
However, by 2 p.m., they arrived at the Thiruppuvanam Police Station and orally complained that ₹2,500 in cash and 10 sovereigns of gold jewelry from their purse were missing.
Based on this, the temple administration officials handed over Ajith Kumar to the police around 7 p.m. That evening, investigators including the Inspector and Sub-Inspector took Ajith Kumar, his younger brother Naveen Kumar, the friend who helped move the car, and two others—a total of five persons—for further questioning. They were taken to various locations, including near the Thiruppuvanam Veterinary Hospital, Seesacheri Field behind the Madapuram hostel, and near the riverbank behind the bus depot.
They were reportedly tortured during the interrogation. Unable to bear the brutality, Ajith Kumar told the police that if they took him to the back of the temple office, he would retrieve the jewelry. Believing this, the police took him there, where he confessed that he had lied due to the torture and had nothing to do with the theft.
Furious, the police allegedly beat him severely—one standing on his legs and another on his head. On Saturday, the 28th of June, around 7 p.m., Ajith Kumar began urinating blood. He was handed back to temple officials, who took him to a private hospital in an auto-rickshaw. When the private hospital refused admission, they went to a government hospital, where he was declared dead.
All those taken for questioning were made to sign statements and then released.
At around 11 p.m. on Saturday night, Ajith Kumar was admitted to Madurai Rajaji Government Hospital. A postmortem was conducted on Sunday, the 29th of June, at 6 p.m. Before the autopsy, the Thiruppuvanam Magistrate held an inquiry with Ajith’s mother, brother Naveen Kumar, and other witnesses.
An FIR (First Information Report) has been filed at the Thiruppuvanam Police Station. The complaint on behalf of the women who allegedly lost the jewelry was reportedly taken by a lawyer who had come to the station that evening for a different case.
Investigations revealed that the women had visited a hospital in Madurai for a scan before coming to the temple and had placed the gold jewelry in their purse. It is unclear if the jewelry was still there when they left the hospital.
Without confirming the facts, and based merely on suspicion, the police detained five people without proper arrest records and subjected them to illegal custody and third-degree torture. Ajith Kumar, who had studied only up to 10th grade and had no previous criminal record, died as a result of police brutality.
It is alleged that the police are now trying to escape murder charges by using bribes, with the help of senior officers, ruling party members, and caste-based organizations.
In light of this, the investigation should immediately be transferred to a special unit like the CBCID, and a senior officer from a different district should be appointed to oversee the case. The High Court must take suo moto cognizance of this custodial death and ensure that justice is delivered to the innocent, poor Nadar family.
