MADURAI: Amid public outrage over the custodial death of temple security guard B Ajithkumar (27) at Thirupuvanam in Sivaganga district in which five policemen have been arrested for murder, CCTV footage of a man being thrashed by policemen at Devadanapatti police station in Theni district has sparked concerns regarding police highhandedness across the state.

After the video of C Ramesh (34), an auto driver of Devadanapatti, being thrashed by policemen in a nuisance case went viral, the Theni district police ordered an inquiry and transferred five policemen, including inspector K Abdulla, to the Armed Reserve (AR) police unit on Wednesday.

According to sources, the Devadanapatti policemen thrashed Ramesh on January 14 after he was brought to the police station for creating public nuisance near Arisikadai bus stop in Devadanapatti town.

Based on a complaint from the local residents, a team picked up Ramesh and brought him to the station.

Used force to control drunk Ramesh: Cops

After caning him, a case was registered under Section 296 of BNS for causing public disturbance, and he was released on station bail, sources said.

The issue came out after a lawyer, who had visited the Devadanapatti police station on January 14 related to another case, filed an RTI request with the district police seeking the CCTV footage of the station to establish his presence at the spot on January 14.

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