Report sought on death of Santiago Martin’s aide

The vacation bench comprising Justice S Vaidyanathan and Justice Subramonium Prasad, before whom the plea came up for hearing on Thursday, sought for both the RDOs report as well as the post mortem examination report before posting the case for further hearing to May 15. The bench also directed the authorities to preserve Palaniswamy’s body at the Coimbatore Government Hospital until then.

Palaniswamy’s son Rohin Kumar, who had moved the plea seeking a CB-CID probe into his father’s death alleging that foul play was involved, had submitted that his father was interrogated by the Income Tax department officials for two days in connection with the searches conducted at 70 places belonging to Santiago Martin, his family members and alleged benamis since April 30.

On May 3, his father’s body was found floating in a pond called Velliankadu Kuttai in the outskirts of Coimbatore and the locals informed the Karamadai police.

Refuting the claims by the police that his father, who had come to Velliankadu Kuttai by his scooter, had committed suicide, Rohin Kumar further submitted that his father had died owing to the torture inflicted by the Income Tax sleuths. He added that he noticed injuries on his father’s body which clearly indicated that it was a case of murder. He also sought the court to direct the authorities to hold the post mortem examination based on their choice of doctor.

However, the additional government pleader submitted that Palaniswamy did not die while in the custody of police or the Income Tax department, adding that the autopsy held by experts has been videographed.

Moreover, the case which was on the file of the Karamadai police has been shifted to the District Crime Branch and an inquiry by the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) has been held, the government lawyer argued.