Headline Change: Four Kerala Policemen Apprehended by CBI in Tanur Custodial Death Case

CBI arrests four cops in Kerala for allegedly torturing to death a man in custody last August. The victim was arrested for possessing synthetic drugs.

The CBI on Saturday arrested four civil police officers accused of torturing to death a man arrested for alleged possession of synthetic drugs in August last year near Tanur here, police sources said.

The four CPOs, who were under suspension following the custodial death, were arrested by the CBI from their respective residences, the sources said.

On August 1, police had arrested five youngsters, allegedly based on a tip-off, on suspicion of possessing synthetic drugs.

A case was registered against them under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act at the Tanur police station.

One of the five, 30-year-old Tamir Jifri had died while in custody allegedly due to torture by the CPOs who were part of the District Anti Narcotics Special Action Force (DANSAF).

The Kerala government had later handed over the case to the CBI after the father of one of the remaining accused moved the Kerala High Court seeking a probe into their alleged torture by prison officials and the state police while they were in judicial custody.

The petitioner had alleged that the accused persons were being tortured to force them into signing statements that they had possessed psychotropic substances as claimed by the police.