In an appalling piece of news, Tamil Nadu has witnessed the third custodial death in two months after a 33-year-old man had died in Chennai under police custody. Amid the alleged claims from his family that he was beaten up and tortured by the police, the city's law enforcement agency has suspended five policemen connected with the incident and a probe has been launched. 

The chain of shocking events has been brewing the fire against the Tamil Nadu police and has sparked a fresh wave of protests across the state. According to reports, 33-year-old Rajashekar had died in police custody in the evening hours of Sunday - June 12, hours after he was apprehended in connection to a jewellery theft case. He was arrested by the Kodangaiyur police on Sunday and he had developed health discomforts during interrogation.

Rajashekar has been on the list of 'B category' history-sheeter with the Sholavaram police and he had around 30 cases against him. Also known as Appu, Rajashekar had been a notorious figure in Chennai. He was arrested by the Kodungaiyur police over robbing jewellery and the police officials were questioning him at a police booth during which he collapsed due to health complications. 

After he complained of uneasiness, Rajashekar was taken to the Government Stanley Hospital for treatments. However, he was declared brought dead. His death caught major attention and Rajashekar's relatives had gathered at the hospital. His family and relatives had held protests by alleging that Rajashekar was picked up by the police two days ago and he was illegally detained and tortured in custody. They had urged the government to take appropriate actions against the responsible policemen. 

However, the police have said that they have recovered some amount of gold from him and he had health issues and complications which led to his collapse. As the protests against the police grow over the incident,  Chennai Police Commissioner Shankar Jiwal has suspended five policemen who arrested Rajashekar. The five suspended policemen have been identified as Kodangaiyur Station House Officer (SHO) George Miller Ponraj, Sub-Inspector Kanniappan, head constables Jaysekar and Manivannan, and constable Sathyamoorthy. 

Following Rajasekhar's death, Additional Commissioner of Chennai Anbu and Deputy Commissioner Rajeswari had inquired at the Kodangaiyur police station over who interrogated Rajashekar and where they questioned him. Speaking to the reporters, Additional Commissioner Anbu said that the police shouldn't be painted badly through one or two events. Hours after the death of Rajashekar, the Chennai Police Commissioner has launched a probe into the former's death and transferred the case to the CB-CID (Crime Branch, Crime Investigation Department) Police.

The police await the autopsy report of Rajashekar, who has allegedly become the third victim of custodial death in two months in Tamil Nadu. Earlier in April, a 25-year-old man Vignesh was taken into custody by Chennai police on April 18 and he died on April 19. While the police had claimed that Vignesh had a seizure and died on the way to the hospital, the autopsy report has revealed that he had sustained multiple wounds and fractures.

In another chilling death, 48-year-old Thangamani of Tiruvannamalai had died in May in the police custody. While the police had kept the same story for Thangamani that he had died due to seizures, his autopsy report has revealed that Thangamani has also suffered multiple injuries and fractures hours before his death. Reacting to the custodial death of Rajashekar, Opposition leader Edappadi Palaniswami said, "Though we have made several indications that the custodial deaths are increasing in this government, there has been no action." He also urged to conduct a probe under a High Court judge into these custodial deaths.