With autopsy indicating inconsistencies with the police version and a dying declaration detailing “torture”, six police personnel across police stations in Tamil Nadu have been suspended in connection with the custodial death of a 26-year-old Dalit man from Sivaganga district. The Crime Branch-CID has been handed over the investigation into the case.

R Akash Delison was arrested in connection with an assault case on March 6, and died two days later, with police claiming that he had fallen off a bridge while trying to escape.

Political leaders have taken up the case, including Thol Thirumavalavan, the president of the VCK, whose main support base is Dalit, and Sivaganga Congress MP Karthi Chidambaram.

The police personnel suspended include Thiruppuvanam Police Station Inspector Dileepan; Manamadurai Sub-Inspector Gugan; Sivaganga Town Police Station Head Constable Deivendran; SIPCOT Police Station Head Constable Sarathkumar; Manamadurai Grade-I Constable Kalishwaran; and Thiruppuvanam Grade-I Constable Manoharan. Deputy Inspector General of Police, Ramanathapuram Range, N Manivannan ordered their suspension.

A resident of Krishnarajapuram in Manamadurai, Delison was apprehended after he and another person were accused of attacking two individuals with sharp weapons. Police claimed the 26-year-old suffered a severe fracture in a leg after jumping from a bridge while attempting to escape custody. He died on March 8 while undergoing treatment at Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai.

However, Delison’s father A Rajeshkannan accused police of deliberately crushing his son’s leg in custody, leading to severe injuries that proved fatal. In a dying declaration recorded by him at hospital a day before his death, in the presence of Judicial Magistrate Afzal Fathima, Delison said he was blindfolded and assaulted by police officers.

Delison says in the declaration, which is part of the writ petition in court: “They tied my eyes with a white cloth… They placed two stones, one under my ankle and another under my knee. They placed a wet sack over my leg. Then, they struck my right leg once with great force using an iron rod… Immediately upon being hit, the bone broke and protruded out, and there was bleeding.”

The Tamil Nadu Police has previously been accused by activists of using similar methods of “torture”, with a wet sack ensuring that there are no visible external wounds, and any injuries attributed to accidents.

On March 11, Rajeshkannan moved the Madras High Court, seeking registration of murder charges against the police personnel responsible as well as charges under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Family members and supporters held protests, blocking a highway.

In hearings before the Madurai Bench of the High Court, the state denied that Delison had been tortured. Additional Advocate General M Ajmal Khan said that after Delison suffered injuries in a bid to escape, he was taken to Manamadurai Government Hospital, later shifted to Sivaganga Government Medical College Hospital, and subsequently moved to Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai after he experienced breathing difficulties.

The government also informed the court that it had included charges of murder and under the SC/ST Act, and that compensation of Rs 6 lakh had been provided to Delison’s family.

The court directed that a postmortem be conducted in the presence of a judicial magistrate, in accordance with guidelines.

As per sources, the postmortem report has shown inconsistencies with the initial medico-legal case registered by police. While Delison’s cause of death was noted as fat embolism, the autopsy report has reportedly recorded only clotted blood in the heart chambers, without mentioning fat globules.

“The postmortem report showed more than two dozen injuries across Akash’s (Delison’s) body, including severe fractures of the tibia and fibula in the right leg, extensive muscle and nerve damage, wounds on the elbows and knees, and multiple abrasions,” said a top police officer. A large internal contusion was recorded in the injured leg area, the officer said, adding that these injuries were inconsistent with a fall, which typically produce fragmented fractures and external abrasions.

The postmortem report has reportedly also raised concerns that mandatory protocols under National Human Rights Commission guidelines for custodial deaths may not have been followed.

Claiming Delison died of “brutal police assault” and lack of timely medical treatment, Thirumavalavan has said that the 26-year-old had opposed drug peddling and the sale of spurious liquor in his locality, and that this angle should be investigated as well.

Karthi Chidambaram, whose Congress is a part of the DMK-led government in the state, has called for wider police reforms, saying custodial deaths were a recurring issue across governments in Tamil Nadu.