Tanur custodial death: Police in fix after autopsy report hints at 'custodial beating'

Thamir Jifri. Photo: Special Arrangement

Malappuram: The police seemingly landed in trouble as the post-mortem report came out in the custodial death of Thamir Jifri from Tirurangadi.

The report raised suspicion regarding custodial beating of Jifri by Tanur police. There were 13 bruises on his body which may have resulted from the beating, the report said. Jifri and four others were taken into custody from a car parked near the Devedar Over Bridge at Tanur along with the narcotic drug MDMA on Monday evening.

According to the postmortem report, bruises were seen on the bottom end of his spine, thighs and under the legs. Police arrested Jifri and four others at around 3.30 pm on Monday; they were produced at the station only at 1.45 am on Tuesday.

The allegation is, the police beat the persons in custody at the police quarters in the intervening time between taking the accused into custody and producing them at the Tanur police station.

Two plastic packets with some sort of crystal material were found in Jifri's intestine, the report revealed. The reason for the death would be confirmed only after the chemical examination of internal organs.

Jifri was brought dead to a private hospital at Tanur on Tuesday at 4.30 am. A police vehicle ferried him to the hospital; the other persons in custody were informed that Jifri had collapsed at the station.

Meanwhile, the investigation into the custodial death was shifted to a team under the state crime branch deputy superintendent Reji M Kunnipparamban. Kozhikode crime branch SP Kunjimoitheenkutty will oversee the probe. Earlier the investigation was handed over to Malappuram district crime branch.

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