Tamil Nadu: Jai Bhim Rajakannu’s custodial death in 1993 and striking parallels to Sivaganga Ajith Kumar case

32 years ago, a creepy death at the Kammapuram Police Station (today’s Cuddalore) in the Southern Arcot region in the Southern Arcot region is disturbing the parallelism of the last illegal detention and murder of Ajith Kumar, a temple security guard in the Sivanga region.

In March 1993, Kadirvel Padayachi, a locally influential man, filed a complaint with the theft of 43 jewelry sovereignty from his home at Kammapuram station. He claimed that some members of the Kuravar community from a nearby village were identified in the region the night before.

Acting on the complaint, the sub -inspector Anthonisami and five policemen visited the house of Rajakannu, an agricultural worker of the K of the K of K of the K of K of the K of K of the K of K of the Kuravar community. Rajakannu was not at home, so they detained his wife Parvathy, two of them children-Marappan (25) and 13) and 13) and his brother. Four were beaten with Lathis.

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When Rajakannu learned that he was detained, he ran to the station at noon on March 21st. The police detained him and released the others.

The next day, when Parvathy returned with food, he saw that her husband was robbed, tied to a window bar and was beaten. He collapsed during the attack, but the police continued to take him. “When I questioned them, I was beaten again and I couldn’t even breathe,” he remembered later in court.

A doctor was called as a homeopathy doctor. He applied an injection and applied ointment to Rajakannu’s wounds. After the doctor left, the police continued to torture. Then they told them to go to Parvathy.

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Around 18.00, he returned to the village of Parvathy, claiming that only the police had arrived before and that Rajakannu had escaped from the detention.

Fearful of the worst, Parvathy sent telegrams to the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Madras with the help of local activists. He claimed that the police killed her husband and threw her body to cover the crime.

Rajakannu was lost for a month.

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Later, with the help of K. Chandru, the judge of the Supreme Court of Madras, Parvathy filed a petition for a Habeas Corpus, looking for the production of Rajakannu in court.

The police claimed that he had escaped and that he had been registered in a “missing man” case. However, the court elected more investigations. During the probe of the CB-CC, the IPS officer B. Perumalsamy, who directed to the agency, came across a case at the Meensurutty Police Station in the neighboring Tiruchi region, where an unidentified male body near a temple was near a temple.

The body was photographed before it was made after death. Multiple injuries, including broken ribs in autopsy, occurred. The doctor concluded that death was caused by shock and bleeding and that all injuries were ante-mortem. Doctor, “1 to 4 was beaten with Lathi. The fracture of the ribs may be due to punching and kicking in the chest.

Watch | Sivaganga custody death – Ajith Kumar’s creepy murder

The photos confirmed that the body was Rajakannu. Kammapuram police produced the escape story, took Rajakannu’s naked body and moved away from the crime scene to avoid examination.

“Defining the dead body and death time, death time and other conditions reveal crimes that may be punished in various numbers, including part 302, IPC and 302, with the report sent before the USA.

The famous Tamil film Jai Bhim (2021) was based on Rajakannu’s life. As the film ended with a hopeful note, Rajakannu never returned.

Data Point | Police convicted for the last custody deaths in India: zero

As the Supreme Court observed in 1994: “This case is only one example that the daily approaches of the police officers and courts after the complaint is made … if such people … If such people act on the occasion and immediately, real danger to the system and management can be prevented.”

Finally, the relevant police were sentenced and sentenced to prison.

In parallel with the Ajith gambling case, the lost jewels in Rajakannu’s case have never been watched.

Published – 09 July 2025 06:30 IST