Chennai, July 8 (IANS) The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to appoint an Investigating Officer within a week to probe the custodial death of B. Ajith Kumar, a temple security guard from Sivaganga district.

The court instructed that the investigation be completed and the final report submitted to the jurisdictional court by August 20.

A Division Bench comprising Justices S.M. Subramaniam and A.D. Maria Clete issued the directive while hearing a batch of public interest litigation (PIL) petitions concerning the case.

The bench ordered the Investigating Officer to collect key documents — including the report of the District Judge who conducted a judicial inquiry — from the Registrar Judicial of the High Court. The officer was also instructed to gather the post-mortem report and the report of the Jurisdictional Judicial Magistrate.

The court emphasised full cooperation from local law enforcement, directing the Inspector General of Police (South Zone) and the Superintendents of Police of Madurai and Sivaganga to extend all necessary support to the CBI team.

The Tamil Nadu government was also ordered to provide protection to witnesses under the Witness Protection Scheme. The judges took note of a detailed inquiry report submitted by the Fourth Additional District Judge of Madurai, S. John Sunderlal Suresh.

During the hearing, the State submitted that a government order had been issued to transfer the investigation to the CBI, adding that the theft of temple jewellery — a parallel allegation made by a woman complainant — would also be probed by the agency. A separate G.O. for this is to follow. The government told the court that the decision to hand over the case to the CBI was based on the principle that “Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion.”

The state also brought to the court’s attention that video clips of court proceedings related to the case were being recorded and circulated on social media, in violation of the Madras High Court Video Conference Rules. The court said it would address the issue separately.

Taking note of the government’s provision of a free house patta and a job at Aavin in Karaikudi to Naveen Kumar, the deceased’s brother, the bench directed the state to clarify its stand on interim compensation.

The custodial death had triggered public outrage, leading to the suspension of six police personnel. Five members of a special police team were arrested and are currently in judicial custody.

The Deputy Superintendent of Police in Manamadurai was suspended, and the Superintendent of Police in Sivaganga was transferred.

–IANS

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