Five policemen, including an Inspector at the Devadanappati police station in Theni district, were on Wednesday (July 2, 2025) transferred to the Armed Reserve unit after a video of a man being beaten up in custody surfaced. The incident happened on January 14, 2025 but the CCTV footage was shared online now triggering action.
The action against the Theni policemen comes amid the ongoing outrage over the death of a temple security guard B. Ajith Kumar after being beaten up by policemen in Sivaganga, who had taken him in illegal custody.
The video showed a policeman beating up Ramesh, an autorickshaw driver, inside the police station. Police said Ramesh was detained by police for creating nuisance in a public place and brought to the police station. He was allegedly in an inebriated state. The video showed the man holding on the legs of a policeman pleading to be spared from the lathi blows. Police claimed he was detained for some time and later released on station bail.
A press release issued on Wednesday evening said five police personnel, including Inspector Abdullah, SSI Sivasubbu, police constable Pandi, Grade I policemen Marichamy and Valirajan, were transferred to the Armed Reserve.
Sources said an advocate Pandiarajan had been to the police station with his client in January and had seen the police beating a person. Later, he filed an application under the RTI Act seeking a video copy of the CCTV footage from the police station based on which the video was given to him.
Meanwhile, a police press release said probe is being conducted by ADSP Gerald Alexander in this connection.