Man dies in police station mysteriously
Dalit organizations stage protest
Mandya, July 13: A labourer who was brought to East police station of the city for interrogation four days ago died mysteriously in the police station on Friday.
Dalit labourer Murthy (45) of Beltur village in Maddur taluk was arrested on Monday and brought to the police station for interrogation. But on Friday, he died in the police station suspiciously. Police said that Murthy committed suicide by hanging himself. However, dalit organizations and his relatives have alleged that Murthy died because of the torture of the police.
Murthy was working as mason and the police arrested him on charges of bike theft and kept him in the police station.
DSS leaders Guruprasad Keragodu, MB Srinivas, Venkatagiri Iah, MV Krishna, SD Jayaram and others rushed to the police station and expressed their anger. They asked the police as to why they have kept the person in the police station for four days. They alleged that the police have deliberately not produced him before the court. He was killed by the police, they alleged.
Judge visits station
Following the death of Murthy, principal district and sessions court judge Jyothi visited the police station and got information. Later, the body was sent to district hospital for postmortem.
DSS leaders and his relatives who staged a protest in front of the mortuary, demanded suspension of the police officers of the station and demanded suitable compensation to the family members of the deceased. They also demanded autopsy in front of the district judge.
Puttaramanna, relative of Murthy, said that Murthy was working as mason. He had three girl children. He was not involved in any theft case. “I have been visiting the police station for the last three days. But the police were telling that they have not arrested Murthy. But today, the police said that he committed suicide at the police station. Murthy died because of the torture of the police”, he said.
“Last Monday, the police have brought three of us including Murthy to the police station. During interrogation, they were beating us. Later, I was produced before the court and I have got the bail. But I don’t know anything about the death of Murthy”, said Nagaraj of Antarahalli, who was also arrested along with Murthy.
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Three company directors held in Rs 100-crore investment fraud in Kochi
Kochi (Kerala) (PTI): Police on Sunday arrested three directors of a firm accused of cheating hundreds of investors of over Rs 100 crore through a fake investment scheme linked to agricultural tourism here, officials said.
The accused were identified as Muraleedharan, Ashik Murali and Akhil Murali, all natives of Thrissur.
The arrests were made by the Kalamassery police in connection with a fraud involving ATCOS (Agri Tourism Cooperative Society), a firm headquartered at Pathadipalam here.
Police said the company had promised high returns by collecting investments from the public in the agricultural tourism sector, but allegedly cheated hundreds of people and fled with the money.
ATCOS was registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act and operated 13 branches across various districts in Kerala, besides a branch in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, officials said.
When investors failed to receive their promised returns or the invested amount, complaints were filed with the police.
Officials said around 54 cases have been registered against the firm in 32 police stations across the state, including 29 cases at the Kalamassery police station alone.
Following instructions from Kochi City Police Commissioner K S Mahesh Kumar, a special investigation team was formed under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Shehensha and Thrikkakara ACP Manoj Kumar.
The team traced the accused to an apartment in Amala Nagar in Thrissur, where they had been hiding after secretly renting the flat, officials said.
The bank accounts of the accused have been frozen, and steps have been initiated to trace their assets, officials said.
Police also conducted a raid at the company’s office at Pathadipalam and seized several documents related to the case.
The accused were produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kalamassery, which remanded them to judicial custody and sent them to Kakkanad jail.
Police said they would seek the custody of the accused for further interrogation as the investigation continues.
