Cops found guilty of Udayakumar custodial murder

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Thiruvananthapuram: In a significant verdict, a special CBI court here convicted six policemen in the sensational custodial murder of Udayakumar in the Fort police station here in 2005.
Of the six, the first three accused -- K Jithakumar, S V Sreekumar and the late K V Soman -- have been found guilty of murder while the rest were convicted for conspiracy and tampering with the evidence. The verdict was pronounced by justice J Nazer.
Soman had died during the trial.
Former superintendents of police (SPs) E K Sabu and T K Haridas and DySP T Ajithkumar are convicted of conspiracy and evidence destruction.
The quantum of sentence will be pronounced later.
The court approved the findings and evidence listed in the charge sheet filed by the CBI.
Udayakumar, a detainee, was tortured to death in the Fort police station in 2005.
The CBI’s case was that constables Jithakumar and Sreekumar had picked up Udayakumar along with his friend Suresh Kumar from Sreekanteswaram Park on September 27, 2005. Suresh was a history-sheeter with a long police record of petty theft. Their suspicion was aroused when they found Rs 4,000 with Udayakumar.
The prosecution case was that the constables inflicted crush injuries on Udayakumar's thighs purportedly to extract a confession.
The CBI booked the three constables on suspicion of wilful murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The verdict comes at a time when the Kerala police are facing repeated accusations of custodial torture and official apathy. In a recent incident, Sreejith, a youth hailing from Varappuzha in Kochi, was taken into custody in a case of mistaken identity and tortured to death.
A mother's lone battle
The conviction of the accused brings an end to a prolonged legal battle of an elderly woman. Prabhavathiyamma, the mother of Udayakumar, on Tuesday said her legal battle was to ensure that such incidents do not repeat.
"I have full faith in the judiciary that the convicts will get maximum punishment," she told Manorama News. She said the verdict gained more importance in the wake of recent incidents including Varappuzha custodial death.
Prbhavathiyamma's will to go ahead with the case despite pressure from various corner has been honoured with the verdict. She moved the HC seeking CBI probe after being fed up with attempts to do away with the case.
Former top cop hails verdict
Former DGP Jacob Punnoose hailed the verdict terming it a lesson for the police force.