Custodial death sparks protest in Mulbagal

Relatives of an accused who died in judicial custody staged a protest in front of mini Vidhana Soudha here on Tuesday.

Members of various organisations took part in the protest.

The accused who died in judicial custody has been identified as Mahesh (35), a resident of Vivekanandanagar.

Both the relatives of the dead and leaders of various organisations staged a protest with the body and sought to know reasons behind his death.

The police, however, tried to halt their movement towards the mini Vidhana Soudha.
Town Municipal Council former president K M Srinivas, Kisan Sabha leader M Gopal, dalit leader Vijay Kumar and others who arrived at the spot wanted to know the reasons behind Mahesh’s death in judicial custody.

The leaders and the police got into a verbal duel, resulting in a tense situation.
The leaders demanded that police who handed over Mahesh’s body to his relatives without any explanation clarify reasons behind his death.

The protesters accused Circle Inspector Shiv Kumar of apathy. Despite tahsildar D V Ramamurthy’s efforts to pacify protesters yielded no results.

DySP Siddaramaiah tried to resolve the issue by convening a meeting at mini Vidhana Soudha and also promised to clarify reasons behind Mahesh’s death.

Jail superintendent’s version

Mahesh was in judicial custody since January this year on charges of theft. On March 16, he was admitted to District SNR Hospital after he complained of chest pain. For further treatment he was shifted to Parappanagrahara prisons to be taken to Victoria Hospital, later.

Mahesh, however, failed to respond to treatment, and passed away on March 17. After conducting a post mortem, the body was handed over to his relatives, said Deputy Jail Superintendent Keshavachari.