Four constables get seven years in jail for suspect's death in police station in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: Four constables have been convicted for causing the death of a suspect at the JB Nagar police station in Bengaluru over eight years ago. 

On Tuesday, a special court found the policemen — Ajaz Khan, Keshavamurthy, Mohan Ram, and Siddappa Bommanahalli — guilty on two counts: culpable homicide not amounting to murder and voluntarily causing hurt. They have been handed seven years' imprisonment and a Rs 25,000 fine each for the first offence. They have also been given a four-year imprisonment for the second offence. Both sentences will run concurrently. 

Special Public Prosecutor Krishnaveni argued the case for the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). 

On March 19, 2016, the JB Nagar police arrested Mahendra Rathod, who was accused of servant theft by his employer. The same evening, while in police lock-up, he complained of chest pain and shortness of breath. He was taken to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead. 

The post-mortem report revealed that death was due to a vaso-occlusive crisis in the brain, kidney, heart and lungs, and that physical exertion cannot be ruled out. The deceased had ante-mortem soft tissue injuries and a fractured fifth metatarsal bone, according to the FIR. 

The CID later took over the case. Its probe eventually focused on the Sickle Cell Disease (SCD), which is linked to the vaso-occlusive condition. 

The CID collected the blood samples of Rathod’s children for a test because SCD can be hereditary. The results showed he indeed had the disease. 

CID investigators determined that the vaso-occlusive condition was triggered by the constables' beatings after the medical report by doctors confirmed that swelling on Rathod’s body was caused by beatings from lathis and rollers. 

Rathod had swollen feet, shoulders, jaws and knees, and several body parts had turned blue, according to the charge sheet submitted in July 2019.