“Beaten to death for nothing,” judge says in Ajith Kumar custodial death case

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday expressed deep anguish over the custodial death of Ajith Kumar, a temple security guard, with the presiding judge remarking that her “heart was pounding” over the brutality involved in the case.
Ajith Kumar, who was working as a security guard at the Bhadrakali Amman Temple in Madapuram near Thiruppuvanam, was questioned by a special police team on June 27, 2025, following a complaint about missing jewellery.
He was allegedly assaulted during interrogation and died the next day, June 28.
Five members of the special police team — Kannan, Raja, Anand, Prabhu and Sankara Manikandan — were arrested in connection with the case and remanded to Madurai Central Prison.
Subsequently, the Madurai Bench ordered a CBI probe into the incident.
A bail petition filed by five of the accused, including Anand, came up for hearing before Justice Srimathi.
During the hearing, the Central Bureau of Investigation informed the court that Ajith Kumar’s death was a custodial death and that as many as ten persons were involved in the incident.
The judge questioned whether the jewellery theft complaint itself was genuine.
In response, the CBI submitted that the complaint was false and that a detailed report was being prepared.
Reacting sharply, the judge asked whether action should not be initiated against the complainant, observing that a man had been beaten to death for a non-existent issue.
The court further asked if there was any prior enmity behind the incident. The CBI replied that there was none and stated that the incident occurred following instructions from a Deputy Superintendent of Police to conduct the inquiry.
Visibly disturbed, the judge said, “Whoever it is, let them remain in jail. My heart is racing. You have beaten someone to death for a trivial matter,” and adjourned the case to February
17.