Tamil youth tortured, jailed under false case by Kollam police

KOLLAM: A youth from Tamil Nadu has alleged that he was tortured and jailed for eight months by the Kollam east police in a false drug case. As the case became controversial, DGP Loknath Behera on Tuesday ordered a probe by the Crime Branch IG Belram Kumar Upadhyaya into the case and asked him to submit a report. A special investigation team was also set up for the probe. The anti-narcotics team under Kollam police had arrested Mukesh, 28, a vendor of undergarments, from near the DTPC boat jetty in Kollam, with a packet of 'white powder' weighing 1.044 kg, on September 15, 2013.

The police claimed that it was 'codeine' worth crores of rupees though Mukesh said it was rice powder. Mukesh from Arumana in Kanyakumari district was taken into custody based on a tip-off received by the then Commissioner Debesh Kumar Behera by the anti-narcotics team, including Kollam east CI Shereef and SI G. Gopakumar on the directions of ACP B. Krishnakumar.

He was subjected to third-degree torture following which he had to accept the charge and was jailed. The powder was examined in the laboratories in Thiruvananthapuram and Hyderabad where it was tested negative, according to a report submitted by the Crime Branch one-and-a-half months ago. The Crime Branch pointed out lack of evidence and ordered to hold back the case proceedings. Meanwhile, the excise department alleged sabotage behind the packet of codeine turning into rice powder.