Strict action will be taken against cops involved in custodial torture: Kerala police chief

Kerala police chief Rawada Chandrasekhar on Friday said that the alleged custodial torture of a Youth Congress leader at the Kunnumkulam police station in Thrissur in 2023 has sparked widespread shock and public outrage.

In an interview given to a Malayalam news channel on Friday, Rawada Chandrasekhar said that custodial torture will not be allowed under any circumstances and that strict action will be taken against police personnel who are involved in the alleged torture at the police station. A thorough investigation will be conducted into the incident, and action will be taken, he said.

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A disturbing police surveillance camera footage of the brutalisation of a Youth Congress worker at the Kunnumkulam police station in Thrissur in 2023 has sparked widespread shock and public outrage in Kerala

The terrifying video also reignited an emotional social debate on alleged law enforcement brutality, which the Opposition sought to weaponise against the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government.

The footage shows BS Sujith, Chovannur Youth Congress block president, being dragged shirtless into the Kunnamkulam police station under Thrissur city police limits on April 5, 2023. Once inside, four policemen led by then Sub-Inspector Nuhman at the Kunnamkulam police station are seen slapping and thrashing him as he cries in pain.

The assault resulted in serious injuries to the victim, including hearing damage in one ear. According to reports, Sujith had intervened when police threatened his friends standing by the roadside, prompting the officers to take him to the station in a jeep, where he was further assaulted.

Despite police claims that Sujith was intoxicated and that he obstructed officers, a medical examination confirmed he was sober. A court subsequently granted him bail, and a subsequent medical report revealed the extent of his injuries.

It took two years of legal battle for Youth Congress leader V S Sujith to obtain the CCTV footage that exposed the custodial torture he suffered at the Kunnamkulam station. Kerala Police employed numerous tactics to withhold the visuals. Sujith said that despite multiple requests, the police denied him the CCTV visuals. He got the footage only after repeated complaints to the Information Commissioner under the Right to Information Act

Meanwhile, Opposition leader VD Satheesan on Friday said that the four police personnel who brutally tortured Youth Congress Chovvannur block president VS Sujith will not come out of their houses wearing khaki if action is not taken against them. The Congress will launch protests and struggles that Kerala has never seen before, he said.

Satheesan, on Friday, personally visited VS Sujith, who was brutally beaten up at the Kunnamkulam police station, and assured him that the party and he will be with him in future struggles

In this connection, Sujith had come forward with serious allegations against the police. He said that the police had tried to influence him by offering money directly and through intermediaries to settle the case.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission has suo motu registered a case in the incident of the brutal torture of Sujith. The Thrissur District Police Chief has been instructed to submit a report within three weeks.

The Youth Congress staged a protest march, ‘Kolachor Struggle’ on Friday, the Thiruvonam Day, before the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) office, Thrissur, against the custodial torture in Kunnamkulam police station. The Youth Congress activists participated in the symbolic protests in police uniform, wearing the masks of the policemen who tortured Sujith.