Sivaganga custodial death: Victim’s brother given government job; Minister hands over appointment order

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had spoken to the family over the phone and assured them of necessary assistance

Following Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s orders, Minister for Co-operation K.R. Periyakaruppan, along with District Collector K. Porkodi, handed over a job appointment order and land patta to B. Naveen Kumar, 27, the brother of Sivaganga custodial death victim B. Ajith Kumar, 29, at his house at Madappuram on Wednesday (July 2, 2025). 

Mr. Stalin on Tuesday (July 1) spoke to the family over the phone and assured them of necessary assistance.

The job appointment order for the post of technician at the Sivaganga district co-operative milk producers’ union, Karaikudi, was handed over to Mr. Naveen Kumar. Besides this, a patta for three cents of land at Theli revenue village was also given to the family.

Manamadurai MLA A. Tamilarasi Ravikumar was also present.

What happened?

Ajith Kumar, who worked as a temporary security guard at Batharakaliamman temple in Madapuram village, was taken into custody last week after a woman lodged a complaint that gold jewels and cash kept in her car were found missing when she returned after darshan. Ajith Kumar had helped in parking the vehicle, police sources said. 

He was reportedly tortured and killed in police custody, and late on Monday (June 30), five policemen were arrested and charged with his murder.

On Tuesday, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court, after perusing the preliminary postmortem report, expressed shock over Ajith Kumar’s death. A Division Bench of Justices S.M. Subramaniam and A.D. Maria Clete directed the Fourth Additional District Judge, Madurai, S. John Sunderlal Suresh, to conduct a thorough inquiry into the case, and submit a report on July 8.

With the State having conceded that it was a case of custodial death, the court directed the government to submit a status report on July 8. It also ordered that the State provide necessary protection to eyewitnesses in the case.

The State said a fair probe was being conducted into the incident, and that action was being taken against those involved. However, it said it was not opposed to the transfer of the probe to any agency. The court also sought instructions for further course of action for a fair and impartial probe, as well as interim compensation.

On the same day, the investigation was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), just a day after it was transferred to the CB-CID. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, who spoke to the victim’s family over the phone earlier that day, said he was “very sorry” for the unfortunate incident.