Madras High Court seeks Thoothukudi magistrate's probe report in youth's death

The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Friday sought the report of an inquiry conducted by the Thoothukudi judicial magistrate into the death of 24-year-old N. Arunachalam, who died a few days after his arrest in connection with an alleged illegal liquor sale case. A bench of justices C.V. Karthikeyan and R. Sakthivel gave the direction while hearing a Public Interest Litigation filed by Theeran Thirumurugan, state coordinator of the fishermen wing of Naam Tamilar Katchi. The petitioner sought a CBI investigation into the youth's death, alleging that he died due to custodial torture. The Thoothukudi South Police had arrested Arunachalam on July 17 for alleged involvement in the illegal sale of liquor. According to the PIL, he was beaten by police during inquiry and admitted to a hospital. The court has now called for the magistrate's report, though the contents of that report have not been detailed.