THOOTHUKUDI: With 10 police personnel arrested in connection to custodial deaths of traders P Jeyaraj and J Beniks and the CBI taking on the investigation, a semblance of normalcy has returned to the Sathankulam region.
Still, the deaths opened a can of worms, with similar allegations of custodial torture emerging against key accused -- the then Sathankulam Inspector Srithar and sub inspector P Raghu Ganesh.
Prime among these allegations is that the death of 28-year-old S Mahendran, of Peikulam, was caused by injuries sustained while he was tortured in police custody.
Locals and even senior police officials said these deaths could have been avoided had intelligence wing sleuths suitably alerted the cops at the head of the totem pole in Thoothukudi about the communal tensions allegedly being instigated in Peikulam ahead of local body elections.
The situation worsened once SI Raghu Ganesh was posted at Sathankulam police station after the local body polls, multiple sources said.
The New Indian Express spoke to senior police officials, several affected villagers, and panchayat members and studied several written complaints to piece together the background to the deaths of Mahendran, Jeyaraj and Beniks.
Sowing seeds of communal disharmony
Peikulam, located 14 km from Sathankulam, is a part of the Sri Venkatesapuram Village Panchayat and is a commercial hub for over 40 villages in the surrounding. While a good number of Konars (also known as Yadavas) reside in the area, the Nadar community is in a majority. Smaller numbers of people from the Asari, Kambar, Pandaram and Navithar communities also live here.
The problem started when a small group of Konar youth from Peikulam started instigating tensions between different communities in the run up to the local body elections. This was seen as an attempt to consolidate Konar votes against Nadar candidates. When Konar cattle rearer was reportedly struck by a member of another community for leaving his cattle on the roads, the youth took to the streets in protest. In retaliation they are also said to have pelted stones at the house of a man from the Asari community on November 29,2019.
The man told The New Indian Express, that the youth continued attacking his house through the day, dispersing whenever a crowd gathered. Finally, he said, Inspector Srithar arrived at the spot. However, even after a written complaint was given to the Inspector, he did not initiate action, the man said. Srithar, instead, asked for a court direction to register a case against the assailants, the man claimed.
Emboldened, the group of Konar youth then started collecting a caste tax of Rs 300 per family from their own community with the aim of outperforming the majority Nadars in the polls. Several members of the Konar community told The New Indian Express that were not in favour of the tax but were pressured to pay up. The youth are alleged to have also started harassing members of the minority Asari, Kambar, Pandaram and Navithar communities.
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"The issue flared up in December when two Kambar and one Navithar youth were stripped and beaten while returning from Sundarachi Amman temple poojai,” said a villager.
Again, a written complaint was not accepted by Srithar.
In the local body elections conducted that month, for which results were announced in January, a Konar candidate for Panchayat president, Laxmanan, lost to Periyasami Sridhar, a Nadar, by a large margin.
"A number of Konars had also voted for Periyasami and this did not go down well with that particular gang," said Stalin, president, Peikulam traders association.
"With the harassment continuing and police taking the side of the aggressors, all the members of the minority caste communities went to the Panchayat office on January 22 seeking refuge," said Periyasami Sridhar, the Sri Venkatesapuram Panchayat president.
On that day, a peace meeting was held in the presence of then Sathankulam Tahsildar Rajalakshmi and the villagers were assured that the nine Konar youth, alleged to be the aggressors, would be booked. However, no case was registered.
The aggressors allegedly continued to harass the minority caste communities. “We lodged another complaint in February but there was still no action,” Periyasami Sridhar said.
Raghu Ganesh and the Jeyakumar murder
Ganesh, who belongs to the Konar community, was posted at the Sathankulam police station soon after the local body elections. Multiple sources said he immediately sided with the nine Konar youth.
"Instead of taking action against them, he inducted the same people feared by villagers as volunteers for patrolling," said a person from one of the affected communities.
Aside from the band of aggressors, Raghu Ganesh is said to have become close to Jeyakumar, an auto driver also from the Konar community. Jeyakumar was elected member of panchayat ward 6 in the local body polls and is believed to have acted as an informant to the SI.
"There was already a dispute between Jeyakumar and Alagu George, a Nadar, since 2017 when the former complained about Alagu driving an auto without a permit. Alagu’s auto was seized and there has been bad blood between them since,” said a villager.
Having gained the ear of Raghu Ganesh, Jeyakumar is said to have tipped the cop off to the movements of gangster Raj Michael, who backed Alagu George.
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Raghu Ganesh allegedly started harassing Raj Michael to the point that the gangster went into hiding. Even then, well-informed sources said Raghu Ganesh would visit Michael’s house and threaten his wife. As tensions escalated, Jeyakumar was hacked to death on May 18, allegedly by Michael’s gang.
In connection to Jeyakumar’s murder, Raghu Ganesh registered a case against nine persons, including a Konar man, on that very day. He picked up at least 40 people, including Periyasamy Sridhar and Stalin, for questioning. The panchayat president and Stalin were released after members of the public staged a protest. Later, as many as 19 persons were arrested for the murder.
Among those picked up for Jeyakumar’s murder were S Durai and his brother Mahendran, from a poor Asari family. Villagers and Mahendran’s family allege that the SI used him as bait to to get Durai to surrender although Durai is not named in the FIR or the complaint filed by Jeyakumar’s family after the murder.
Mahendran was taken into custody on May 23 evening and released past midnight on May 24. His family said he was practically paralysed and unable to move when he came home. Mahendran recovered somewhat and reported to his workplace in Tirunelveli on June 10 but almost immediately collapsed. He was shifted to Thoothukudi Government Medical College Hospital where he died on June 13, allegedly due to the severe injuries caused by custodial torture. Durai is out on bail.
Investigation just an excuse?
At least 10 people told The New Indian Express that they were picked up by police “for questioning” in the Jeyakumar murder case although they had nothing to do with it.
“Even Mahendran, a construction worker, was a friend of Jeyakumar. He had taken up a contract to repair the latter's house," said a neighbour, pointing to the deceased’s lack of motive to murder the ward member.
Among those who said they had been beaten by Raghu Ganesh after being picked up for questioning is a temple priest from the Kambar community.
"He beat me while repeatedly asking if I would ever side with the Nadar community again," the priest said.
A man from the Asari community said he was picked up for inquiry but was beaten for favouring the Nadar candidate in the Panchayat president election.
Even a man from the Konar community was not spared. He said he was beaten by Raghu Ganesh for supporting Nadars over his community.
"We are living in harmony but this SI used his power and acted along with vested interests to divide the people along caste-lines," said one person from the Konar community.
Finally, one Perumal, a relative of Mahendran, on June 20 lodged a complaint with the then Thoothukudi Superintendent of Police, Arun Balagopalan, stating that Raghu Ganesh was torturing people on a caste basis.
That day, the panchayat presidents of Sri Venkatesapuram, Karungadal and Katarimangalam villages also submitted a petition to Balagopalan stating that Jeyakumar’s murder was caused by the SI’s vested interests and his communal motive, although the villagers did not support the accused. The petition stressed that people of different communities were united and living in harmony.
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“The SP assured us of action,” Periyasamy Sridhar said.
By then, however, Jeyaraj and Beniks had already spent a night at the Sathankulam police station, allegedly being tortured. They would die just days later, Beniks on June 22 and his father on June 23.
‘Failure of intelligence’
Senior police in Thoothukudi, including those in the intelligence bureau, blamed the intelligence wing for failing to bring these sensitive issues to the notice of the SP and other seniors.
"Had the intelligence sleuths reported the SI’s relationship with vested interests and role in vitiating communal harmony, he would have been warned immediately and more untoward incidents would not have occurred," said a senior police officer, who was of the view that the intelligence wing sleuths should be investigated.
Asked about these issues, Thoothukudi SP S Jeyakumar said he was not in Thoothukudi at that time, however, an officer in the rank of additional deputy superintendent of police was investigating the Peikulam case based on the petitions filed. Meanwhile, the issue has gone to the court, he said.
Further, "not only SIs but all police personnel have been instructed to not to be a part of caste-based WhatsApp groups. Strict action will be taken if any acts with caste bias,” he said.
Balagopalan was transferred out of the district and placed on compulsory wait at the DGP’s office after the deaths of Jeyaraj and Beniks.
A failure of intelligence was also blamed for the lack of preparedness on the part of district authorities during the anti-Sterlite protests in 2018. Caught off-guard by the size of the protest, police resorted to opening fire, killing 13 people on the spot that May.
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