Thiruvananthapuram: As many as 1,129 members of the Kerala police force are facing charges in criminal cases, according to information accessed through the Right to Information Act, and reported by local media on Wednesday.

Nearly a fifth of them, or 215 police officials, on the list are based in the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram, the report says. Police officials of various ranks are on the list, including 10 officers of the rank of deputy superintendent of police.

The information comes at a time when there is widespread resentment against the police for the death of a youth who was wrongly taken into custody, and allegedly died owing to police brutality.

Sreejith, 27, son of S. Ramakrishnan and Shyamala, was taken into custody on April 6 evening by the police in Varappuzha on the outskirts of Kochi, in connection with the suicide of one K. Vasudevan. Vasudevan had taken his life after a skirmish with a group of people in which he was assaulted.

Police took Sreejith into custody, following up on a list of alleged assailants provided by Vasudevan’s son, Vineesh. It now appears that police had picked up another Sreejith, and not the one who assaulted his father, says Vineesh.

However, police have stuck to their stand that they took into custody the right person and that Vineesh was changing his version.

Sreejith’s wife and mother said the three policemen who visited their home on April 6 to arrest him, assaulted him in front of them, even as Sreejith wondered why they had come for him.

On April 7, Sreejith complained of severe stomach pain and was taken first to a local private clinic, then to a taluk hospital and later to the Kalamassery Medical College Hospital.

Due to the non-availability of a scan machine there, he was then shifted to a private hospital in Cheranalloor, but on April 9 he passed away.

Bharatiya Janata Party workers held a sit-down protest with Sreejith’s body, demanding action against the policemen concerned. They blocked the national highway at Varappuzha for nearly an hour on Tuesday night before the district collector intervened and informed them of the suspension of the three policemen.

Sreejith leaves behind his wife, Akhila, and a three-year-old daughter, Aryananda.