Siblings arrested in gang rape case were on police watchlist

Wilson Thomas

The siblings from Singampunari in Sivaganga district, arrested for gang-raping a college student in Coimbatore, figured in the history-sheet prepared by Coimbatore City police.

T. Karuppasamy, alias Satheesh, 30, and T. Kaleeswaran, alias Karthik, 21, were among the 3,000 history-sheeters in the list, which included local history-sheeters and those from other districts.

“In the case of local history-sheeters, personnel from the police station concerned keep an eye on them to monitor their activities. As for those from other districts, a report is sent to the police stations in their native areas to keep a watch on them. The siblings had given their address as Singampunari when the Singanallur police, booked them in a case earlier this year. Hence, a report was sent to their native police station to monitor them,” said Coimbatore City Police Commissioner A. Saravana Sundar.

They had given the address of their rented house at Irugur in Coimbatore when they were arrested for murdering a watchman in Kinathukadavu police limits in 2021, and robbing his wife of her chain. The case is in the pre-trial stage. A month ago, they were released on bail in a theft case in Sathyamangalam, Erode district.

 A few days ago, the accused and their relative M. Guna, alias Thavasi, 20, of Madurai district, stole a two-wheeler from the jurisdiction of Kovilpalayam police station. The trio used the vehicle to reach the vacant land abutting Brindhavan Nagar near Coimbatore airport, where they raped the college student on November 2.

Mr. Sundar said Karuppasamy had four cases against him and Kaleeswaran had five. “When history-sheeters commit fresh offences, we move the courts to cancel their bail in pending cases.”