MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday directed the police to preserve the CCTV footage and examine an audio recording of a conversation in connection with a plea seeking transfer of the investigation into the death of a Class 11 student in Madurai.

Justice Vijayakumar issued the directions on a petition filed by Yogalakshmi of Koodal Pudur, the mother of the deceased Tamilselvan, who sought transfer of the probe and an interim stay on the police investigation.

Yogalakshmi said that her son went out to play with his friends on September 6 but did not return home till evening and alleged that a boy had informed her that one Thuraipandi had assaulted her son a few days earlier. She also claimed that her son was in a relationship with Thuraipandi's daughter and that love letters were allegedly found at her house.

Meanwhile, Tamilselvan's body was recovered from a nearby pond on September 7. His friends, who had initially denied going to the pond with the deceased, later admitted the truth after the police showed them CCTV footage, the petitioner said.

She further claimed that she later received information that some persons had assaulted Tamilselvan and thrown him into the pond. Though she had handed over audio recordings and other materials relating to her suspicions to the police, no action had been taken, she alleged.

The police submitted that the cause of death could be ascertained only after the post-mortem report is released.

Following this, the judge directed the police to preserve the CCTV footage, examine an audio recording of a conversation between Tamilselvan's friend and his mother and adjourned the case to September 24.