Henry Tiphagne, executive director, People’s Watch, who is assisting a minor and SC victims in the case, said the Tamil Nadu government is undertaking a circuitous route to avoid registering FIR against Singh and other police personnel even after a prima facie case has been made out. “Why did the district collector not include crime number 49/2023 of Ambasamudram police station and 65/2023 of V K Puram police station in the SDM inquiry while details about custodial torture in both cases were already in public domain? It is clear that a powerful IPS lobby is at work in the case. We demand that this process of disrespecting the victims by asking them to depose before different authorities be stopped immediately. The victims who were not provided with dental care, counselling and interim compensation are forced to face another inquiry,” he said in a statement. Tiphagne also requested the HC to take suo motu cognizance of the case as it did in the Sathankulam custodial death case in 2020.