The deceased, Ajith Kumar (27), was a temporary worker at the renowned Madapuram Badrakali Amman temple near Thiruppuvanam.
Published Jun 29, 2025 | 10:50 AM ⚊ Updated Jun 29, 2025 | 10:50 AM
Representational image.
Synopsis: A temporary temple worker died following a police inquiry at Thiruppuvanam in the Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu. The incident triggered a massive protest by the deceased’s family members and locals, demanding justice and transparency.
Tension gripped Thiruppuvanam in the Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu after a temporary temple worker died following a police inquiry on Friday, 28 June. The incident triggered a massive protest by the deceased’s family members and locals, who laid siege to the Thiruppuvanam Police Station, demanding justice and transparency.
The deceased, Ajith Kumar (27), was a temporary worker at the renowned Madapuram Badrakali Amman temple near Thiruppuvanam. He was detained by the police on Friday after being accused of theft near the temple premises.
On Friday, 73-year-old Sivagami from Thirumangalam in Madurai district visited the temple along with her daughter, J Nikita (48), for darshan. Since Sivagami needed assistance to walk, Nikita sought a wheelchair from the temple office.
Ajith brought the wheelchair and helped her. Nikita then handed over the car keys to Ajith, asking him to park the vehicle.
When the two women returned after their visit, they noticed that a cloth bag, which had been kept under the backseat and contained 10 sovereigns (approximately 80 g) of gold jewellery, had been disturbed, and the jewellery was missing.
Suspecting theft, they questioned Ajith, who allegedly gave inconsistent answers. The women then filed a complaint at the Thiruppuvanam Police Station, where Ajith was brought in for questioning.
Police reportedly interrogated Ajith near the temple premises and later released him. However, his family alleged that he never returned home. Later, they came to know that he had again been picked up by officers from the Crime Branch for further interrogation.
According to police sources, Ajith fainted during the second round of questioning and was taken to the Thiruppuvanam Government Hospital, where he was declared dead. His body was later shifted to the Madurai Government Rajaji Hospital late at night.
However, his family members claimed they were kept in the dark about the death and the whereabouts of his body for several hours. As a result, they launched a protest at the Thiruppuvanam Police Station late into the night, demanding answers and alleging custodial torture.
By Saturday morning, pressure mounted on the police as the protest gained traction. In response, Sivaganga Superintendent of Police Ashish Rawat ordered the suspension of six Crime Branch police personnel, including Sub-Inspectors Raja, Sangaramanickam, Ramachandran, Prabhu, Anand, and Head Constable Kannan, pending an internal investigation.
Ajith’s body was sent for autopsy at the Madurai Government Hospital. Authorities have stated that the postmortem results will help determine whether his death was due to natural causes or police assault during interrogation.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil with inputs from Subash Chandra Bose.)
