The accused police personnel in the Sattankulam custodial death case will appear before the First Additional District and Sessions Court in Madurai on March 23, 2026. Photo credit: G. Moorthy
Nearly six years after businessman P. Jayaraj and his son J. Benicks died of custodial torture during the COVID-19 lockdown at Sattankulam police station in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi district, the First Additional District and Sessions Court in Madurai on Monday (March 23, 2026) indicted all nine policemen in the case.
Justice G. Muthukumaran said he would pass the sentence on March 30 and extended the remand of the convicts till then. The judge found the police officers guilty of murder and other offenses under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The judge requested a report on the state of health of the police officers. The Senior Warden of Madurai Central Jail has been asked to produce the accused before the Medical Board of Rajaji Government Hospital, Madurai. The judge requested a report on the accused’s most recent asset statements and payslips. Besides, the judge sought report from the Union and state governments regarding aggravating/mitigating circumstances.
The crime, which occurred in June 2020, shocked civil society and sparked widespread protests. The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court took suo motu cognizance of the crime and issued a series of directions. The then AIADMK government handed over the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). A total of 10 police officers were charged in the case. One of them died after contracting COVID-19. CBI prosecuted nine policemen.
The CBI filed a charge sheet on 25 September 2020, followed by a supplementary charge sheet on 12 August 2022. It accused the then Sattankulam Inspector S. Sridhar; Sub-Inspectors P. Raghu Ganesh and K. Balakrishnan; Senior Constables S. Murugan and A. Saamidurai; and Constables M. Muthuraj, S. Chelladurai, X. Thomas Francis and S. Veilumuthu. Special Sub-Inspector Pauldurai was also an accused. But he died during the trial after contracting COVID-19.
The CBI said that Jayaraj and Benicks were subjected to brutal torture by the police knowing that it was enough to cause their death. During the investigation, it was revealed that the traders did not violate the rules of the COVID-19 lockdown, on the basis of which the police detained them.
The CBI said investigations revealed that Jayaraj was picked up from his shop near the Kamaraj statue at 7:30 pm on 19 June 2020 and lodged at the Sattankulam police station on the basis of a criminal conspiracy they had concocted. Acting on the information, Benicks rushed to the station to inquire about his father’s arrest. He argued that his father was beaten. After an argument, the two were wrongfully imprisoned in a police station and beaten to “teach them a lesson in how to behave as a police officer”.
The torture continued throughout the night. The traders were forced to clean the blood from their wounds. The next morning, the paramedic was forced to clean up the blood to destroy the evidence. The CBI added that a false charge has been registered against the two. In the supplementary charge sheet, the CBI has submitted a report on scrutiny of the video footage available in the case.
The Madurai bench took into account the statement of the woman head constable, the medical report and the magistrate’s report. It said it had found prima facie material to book the police personnel involved in the custodial death for murder.
Published – 23 March 2026 19:00 IST
