Kancheepuram court slams cops for ‘casual’ probe, acquits 12 in murder of Dalit youth

During the trial, 10 of the 20 prosecution witnesses turned hostile and the main accused Logu died.

Siddharth Prabhakar

CHENNAI: Acquitting 11 caste Hindus and one Muslim man accused of killing a Dalit in 2013, the Kancheepuram sessions court criticised the investigating police officials for their ‘lethargic and casual’ probe which led to the case crumbling. The judge recommended departmental action against the officers involved.

In the January 9 judgment, the court questioned why the cops failed to use the services of the forensic department, given that there was no eyewitness for the crime.

The prosecution’s case was that on December 19, 2013, Dinesh of Chitiyambakkam village was hacked to death at a petrol pump in the locality by a gang led by main accused G Logu at 1.50 am. Police said that Logu, a Vanniyar man, was angered over his hotel being attacked by Dinesh’s supporters. This was after Logu’s loyalists had allegedly attacked some Dalit school students.

The Kanchi taluk police station had arraigned 13 people as accused and booked them for murder and conspiracy, as well as under provisions of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.

During the trial, 10 of the 20 prosecution witnesses turned hostile and the main accused Logu died.

Cops told the court that they recovered blood-stained sand and a container from the crime scene. The weapon allegedly used for the murder was recovered a few days later.

However, the judge noted several basic errors in the investigation. For instance, there was a delay of 10 hours in sending the FIR to the court. No document was filed to substantiate the motives alleged, including that of caste rivalry and prior enmity. The judge also pointed out that the cops did not even send the blood-stained weapons to the forensic department.

The cops were also unable to prove the complicity of the other accused. The judge said mere recovery of weapons and vehicles with no correlation to the supposed confession statement of the accused would not suffice to prove the case.

Courtesy : TNIE

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