In an unfortunate case of alleged police brutality, a Croftdene family is seeking justice for the death of 33-year-old Logan ‘Julz’ Arunachellam.
According to the family spokesperson, whose identity is known to the Chatsworth Tabloid, Arunachellam left his home on 14 May but never returned. “At around 1.30pm on Friday, 14 May, Julz was arrested in a drug raid for selling drugs. His youngest son was an unfortunate witness to his arrest. He remained in custody for the rest of the afternoon and we have no idea what exactly occurred thereafter.” The source said they received a call on Saturday to say that he was taken to R.K. Khan Hospital where they found him on a stretcher. “I went to the station to get his clothes packet and I enquired with some of the officers who told me that they ‘thought’ he had suffered from a dislocated hip.” Upon arrival at the hospital, the family member had allegedly confirmed with Arunachellam that he was assaulted by an officer. “At 6pm the previous night, Julz called asking for warm clothes and he even walked out from his home with police so it did not make sense as to how they could say he had a dislocated hip. When I came back to the hospital, he told me that a police officer had assaulted him and when he told them that he was feeling sick and needed to go to the hospital, they ‘booted’ him on his thigh. He passed out after that and could only recall waking up in the ambulance.”
Although Arunachellam was in a delusional state, he allegedly managed to convey his account of events to his family despite the excruciating pain. “After his x-rays were completed, we came to know that the impact of whatever hit him broke his leg and that surgery was needed. We had him admitted but the hospital was unable to perform the surgery and Julz would have a lengthy wait of around two weeks and that too, there were many other people who were waiting for surgeries as well. Between 5.30am and 6am on Sunday, they said that he went into cardiac arrest and passed away.” The family said that although Arunachellam was arrested for illegal activities, authorities should have let the law take its course instead of injuring him so severely and allegedly causing his death. During the post-mortem on Thursday, 27 May, representatives from the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) were present and will be probing Arunachellam’s death. “We had not reported the incident to IPID but we were informed that they were present at the post-mortem. Julz has left behind a wife and three children who will grow up without a father. His youngest son will forever be scarred as well as he witnessed the arrest,” the family said. Arunachellam was laid to rest on Friday, 28 May.
