Madurai

Ina significant legal development, a city court on Thursday ordered the judicial remand of four police officials — a DSP among them — in connection with the 2025 custodial death of temple security guard B Ajith Kumar.

The V Additional District and Sessions Court, Madurai, framed a murder charge under Section 103 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against a former DSP of Manamadurai, a former Thiruppuvanam police Inspector, a former SI and a former head constable, in connection with the custodial death of Kumar, a security guard at the Madapuram Kaliayamman temple in Sivaganga district, and directed that they be sent to prison.

The court ordered their immediate remand after observing that they had appeared before it without securing formal bail petitions.The CBI had opposed their release, telling the court that local police elements were still actively trying to influence the case — including an incident flagged before the court on Thursday, in which a local police inspector arbitrarily withdrew protection from key eyewitnesses.

The section invoked against the four carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and is non-bailable, a source said. The High Court had earlier directed the four to appear before the trial court to execute bonds. However, they appeared before the judge on Thursday without filing a bail petition. As a result, the judge exercised the court’s statutory power and ordered them to be taken directly into judicial custody.

Kumar, 27, reportedly died in June 2025 after being subjected to police brutality during a probe into a missing gold chain of 10 sovereigns. The incident triggered massive public outrage, prompting the CBI to take up the case. The agency’s investigation uncovered brutal torture of Kumar by local police over the theft allegation, which was later found to be entirely baseless.

An autopsy report confirmed 18 distinct injuries on Kumar’s body. Following the CBI crackdown, 10 police personnel have been named as accused in the custodial murder case. Five constables were arrested and remanded in 2025, and a police driver was subsequently taken into custody, police said. A supplementary chargesheet later named the four officials, who were subsequently suspended.