TN: ASP accused of custodial torture; SHRC orders investigation

The accused officer has been put on compulsory waiting, pending inquiry and an investigation has been ordered by the DGP.

Chennai:Bringing back the three-year-old memory of the deaths of a father and son due to alleged police torture in Sathanukukam police station, a gruesome instance of custodial torture has come to light in Tirunelveli's Ambasamudram police station, where an IPS officer has been accused of plucking the teeth and hitting their genitalia while they were in custody. The accused, a 2020-batch IPS officer, Balveer Singh, assistant superintendent of police (ASP), allegedly tortured the men, who were arrested in connection with an attempt to murder case.

Taking suo motto cognizance of news reports on the alleged custodial torture, the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) on Tuesday ordered the IG or director of the commission's investigation division to investigate and submit its report within six weeks. A police inquiry is already underway in this connection and the accused officer has also been put on compulsory waiting. After the matter came to light, the director general of police Sylendra Babu on Monday issued an order removing him from the post and placed him under compulsory waiting, pending inquiry.

A group of alleged victims of Singh's torture complained that they were brutally tortured and their teeth were plucked out in Ambasamudram police station. They allegedly Singh filled their mouths with gravel and punched them hard. The accused officer allegedly crushed the testicles of a man even after knowing that he had married recently, complained an alleged victim. The deputy superintendent of police said an investigation has already been ordered while the district police inspector has ordered for a separate independent investigation by the Tirunelveli district collector.