Robbery accused dead in police custody, kin demand probe

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: A 34-year-old accused, arrested for robbing a couple in HSR Layout recently, died under mysterious circumstances while he was in the police custody here.

Ganesh alias Gani, a resident of Tavarekere, was arrested by the HSR Layout police for allegedly posing as a policeman and robbing Rs 1.5 lakh from a North Indian couple residing in an apartment in Bengaluru.

According to a complaint, Ganesh had barged into the house of the victims on December 17 and had blackmailed them into paying him Rs 1.5 lakh.

He had allegedly threatened to fix them in a false drug case if they refused to pay him or attempted to call the police.

Following his arrest on December 22, the police had detected several extortion and robbery cases registered against Ganesh at various police stations in Bengaluru.

The police also stated that the accused was a habitual offender and had been mostly targeting people who were not from the state.

On Saturday, the relatives and friends of Ganesh were shocked when they were informed that Ganesh had died due to "illness."

They, however, alleged police torture to be the cause of Ganesh’s death. Vinod, a friend of Ganesh, while speaking to News Trail on Sunday, alleged that Ganesh had given him Rs 2.5 lakh for safe-keeping and had made phone calls to him on several occasions.

The police zeroed-in on Vinod after verifying the Call Data Records (CDR) details of Ganesh’s mobile phone.

"After Ganesh was arrested, the police had summoned me and detained me for five days at the station. A sub-Inspector had demanded Rs 6 lakh from my father to release me," Vinod alleged.

It was learnt that Ganesh was shifted to Parappana Agrahara Prison near Hosur Road. The family of Ganesh further alleged that he was suffering from severe pain after he was brutally beaten up by the policemen while in custody.

On Saturday, Ganesh was being transported to a hospital, but died on the way, the family alleged.

While the police have not responded on the matter so far, the family has made serious allegations while demanding a probe into the sudden death of Ganesh.