Sembulingam, a farmer from Kasankottai village in Ariyalur district who is also a cadre of the BJP Tamil Nadu has died days after he was brutally attacked by the Tamil Nadu police.
According to reports, on 25 November 2022, around 8 policemen stormed into the house of Sembulingam in connection with a case against his son-in-law Arun Kumar.
As Arun Kumar was not available, the police personnel abused and attacked Sembulingam, his daughter and wife.
Sembulingam and two other members of the family who were injured in the attack were admitted in a government hospital and later shifted to a private hospital in Trichy.
Sembulingam reportedly sustained serious internal injuries in the abdomen region allegedly because of the attack. Despite treatment, Sembulingam died on 8 December 2022.
M Karthikeyan, a relative of the deceased had filed a petition at the Madras High Court seeking directions to constitute a doctors’ team as per the willingness of the family members and further demaded that the probe into the death be transferred to some other agency that doesn’t come under the control of Tamil Nadu police.
In his petition, Karthikeyan said that Vikkiramangalam police station Inspector Veluchamy, Sub-Inspector Balakrishnan, Special Sub-Inspector Pazhanivel and five other cops trespassed into Sembulingam’s house and vandalised the properties.
“The police kicked Sembulingam and then the team of police attacked my aged paternal aunt Sudha and her son Manikandan. The cops used abusive and unprintable language and then they threatened that the police would kill the three,” he added.
Karthikeyan also claimed in his petition that when the trio were admitted to the government hospital, one SSI visited the hospital and obtained a fake statement from Sembulingam. He further made others agree with the statement and get their signatures, Karthikeyan has alleged.
“However, Sembulingam died in this attack on December 8. Therefore, we want to conduct the post-mortem to bring out the truth with the doctors of our choice. Since the case is against the state police, it should be transferred to other agencies like CBI for a fair probe,” the petitioner’s counsel K Balu argued.
On 10 December 2022, the Madras High Court in a special sitting under Justice G Chandrasekharan passed direction to Thanjavur, Tiruchy and Madurai medical colleges’ deans to constitute a team of doctors to conduct an autopsy.
The judge directed the deans of the medical colleges to each name a doctor of their choice for conducting the postmortem on Sunday before 12 pm.
The judge further asked the kin of Sembulingam to conduct the final rites peacefully.
With respect to the demand for probe by other agencies, the judge has asked the Tamil Nadu police to file a response within two weeks.
Meanwhile, BJP Tamil Nadu President K. Annamalai came down heavy on the Tamil Nadu police and the DMK government and has announced a protest seeking justice for the farmer’s death.
தொடரும் தமிழக காவல்துறையின் அடக்குமுறை.
காவல்துறையினரின் கண்மூடித்தனமான தாக்குதலால் அரியலூர் மாவட்டம் காசாங்கோட்டையைச் சேர்ந்த விவசாயியும் @BJP4TamilNadu தொண்டருமான அண்ணன் திரு செம்புலிங்கம் அவர்கள் உயிரிழந்திருப்பது வன்மையாக கண்டிக்கத்தக்கது. (1/4)
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) December 10, 2022
PMK President Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss has demanded the arrest of the 8 errant police personnel. The PMK has also sent a fact-finding committee to document the facts of the case.
It is to be noted that Sembulingam was neither arrested nor brought to the police station for enquiry. That being the case, the police have threatened to take action against anyone who attempt to ‘tarnish’ the reputation of police.
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