Tamil Nadu IPS Officer Removed After Six Men Allege Custodial Torture

Balveer Singh from Tonk in Rajasthan is a 2020-batch IPS officer.

An accused in another case said that the ASP pulled out his teeth with a cutting plier while he was in the lockup (Image for representation)

Ambasamudram ASP Balveer Singh, who was accused of custodial torture by knocking out the teeth of the accused, has been removed and placed under reserved vacancy. The Tirunelveli District Collector KP Karthikeyan also on Monday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident. 

According to a report on Times of India, the six people who faced the alleged custodial torture include Esakimuthu, Mariappan, Chellapa, S Mariappan, Arul alias Antony and Suresh. The custodial torture took place 10 days ago.

On March 10, the six men were held without even giving time to explain themselves in an attempt to murder case. Later, the accused were taken to the police station and they were tortured. The police then allegedly threatened them not to reveal about the third-degree torture to the magistrate. 

The issue came to light after Chellapa and Mariappan, who are now on bail, released a video explaining about the 'torture'.

The two men said that the ASP broke the teeth of five men and filled their mouths with gravel and then punched them. 

Chellapa told TNM that Balveer who was wearing white gloves called them in and broke his tooth with a stone. 

He said that the ASP also crushed his newly married brother's testicle and his brother is currently in critical condition. 

Chellapa said they also sexually assaulted his other brother. He said that the ASP tortured them while two cops were holding their hands. 

This is not the only case where the accused had been tortured. Another auto driver, Vetha Narayanan who was questioned for a domestic dispute case at Vikramasingapuram police station also faced similar torture. 

He told TOI that the ASP pulled out his teeth with a cutting plier. The incident reportedly took place on March 22.  

Balveer Singh from Tonk in Rajasthan is a 2020-batch IPS officer. He is a BTech graduate in mechanical engineering from IIT-Bombay. He also previously worked with Indian Oil Corporation Before clearing UPSC.