Tuticorin custodial killings: Two members of CBI team probing case contract coronavirus
New Delhi: Two officers of a CBI team probing alleged extrajudicial killing of a man and his son by Tamil Nadu police personnel in Tuticorin have tested positive for COVID-19, officials said Thursday.
Affected officers, a sub-inspector and a head constable, have been admitted to a local hospital and the remaining team will be tested for coronavirus immediately to rule out any asymptomatic case, they said.
Seeing the public outcry on alleged police excesses resulting in the death of RP Jeyaraj and his son J Benniks, the agency had swung into action as soon as it received a reference from the Centre to proceed with its investigation and had dispatched a team from its special crime unit, they said.
It was alleged that the Jeyaraj and Bennicks were arrested by Sathankulam police for alleged violation of prohibitory orders in force due to COVID-19 lockdown by keeping their mobile phone shop open in the district beyond the allowed time.
They were taken to jail in the early hours of June 20 where Bennicks died on the same day, while Jeyaraj succumbed to injuries on June 23.
The CBI team reached the location and conducted a number of interviews with the witnesses and accused police personnel, they said.
It collected crucial forensic evidence and met a large number of people during the fieldwork, possibly exposing the members to the contagious pathogen, they said.
The agency is contemplating sending additional manpower for the probe, they said.
The ghastly manner in which father and son were allegedly beaten by police personnel had evoked a sharp response from civil society, movie industry, and political parties, resulting in the recommendation of the CBI probe by the state government.
The judicial magistrate probing the deaths had told Madras High Court that the policemen allegedly thrashed the deceased whole night in the police station with lathis and a bloodstained table bore testimonies of the gruesome crime.
The findings were based on a statement from a woman police personnel attached to the police station where the alleged crime took place.
Mentioning Head Constable Revathy's statement in a four-page report to the Madras High Court Madurai Bench, the judicial magistrate probing the deaths said she feared that she would receive threats if she revealed the facts.
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Karnataka issues order on internal quota within SC reservation; 56,432 recruitments to proceed
Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Tuesday issued an order implementing internal reservation within the 15 per cent quota earmarked for Scheduled Castes in appointments and admissions.
As per the order, 5.25 per cent reservation has been allocated to Left-hand communities under Category-A, 5.25 per cent to Right-hand communities under Category-B, and 4.50 per cent to other touchable Scheduled Caste communities under Category-C.
The government said the decision follows the recent Cabinet meeting held in view of the interim order of the High Court. It was decided to temporarily adopt the 50 per cent overall reservation ceiling and continue recruitments subject to the final verdict of the court.
Accordingly, the 15 per cent SC reservation in recruitment and admissions will now be distributed among the three categories in the prescribed ratio.
The order further stated that 20 per cent of posts or seats available under Category-C must be reserved for 59 most backward castes within the Scheduled Castes. If eligible candidates from these 59 castes are not available, the vacancies or seats should be filled by candidates from other communities within Category-C.
For implementing the revised quota in recruitment, authorities have been directed to follow a 400-point roster system. Where fewer than three Scheduled Caste roster points are available in any cadre, the reserved posts should be treated as general SC category posts for appointment purposes.
The government has also directed departments to revise ongoing recruitment processes by incorporating internal reservation. Notifications already issued without such quota distribution are to be withdrawn and fresh revised notifications issued immediately.
The order added that if the court upholds the enhanced 24 per cent reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the additional 6 per cent posts should be treated as backlog vacancies and filled accordingly.
The government has instructed all recruiting authorities to take urgent steps to fill 56,432 posts already cleared by the Finance Department through direct recruitment.
