Two of the three men who allegedly assaulted Bengaluru resident Lloyd Nehemiah (54), who succumbed to injuries two days later on April 5, have been identified as sons of a senior police officer in Odisha. According to HAL police who are probing the case, two of the accused — Anirudh and Basudev — are sons of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of Bhubaneswar State Crime Records Bureau, Keshab Kumar Samantray, a Bengaluru police officer told TNM.
The DSP's younger son Anirudh Samantray (28), a lawyer working at a private firm was apprehended in Delhi on Thursday, April 6, and is being brought to Bengaluru. Anirudh and his brother Basudev Samantray (34), a project manager with a construction firm, along with their friend Abhishek Singh (31), a software engineer at a private firm, allegedly assaulted Lloyd following an altercation during the early hours of April 2. Two of the accused, Basudev and Abhishek, were arrested on Thursday and produced before a court, which remanded them in police custody for five days. Anirudh will be produced before a court after he arrives in Bengaluru.
On April 2, the three accused were reportedly playing loud music in their car during the early hours, when Lloyd asked them to lower the volume since his mother was bedridden and it was causing a disturbance. The accused then allegedly assaulted and abused Lloyd and his sister. Lloyd passed away on Tuesday, two days after the alleged assault.
The police stated that Lloyd had been admitted to Ambedkar Medical College for a surgical procedure on his knee. According to the police, the initial post-mortem report indicated that Lloyd had died due to low blood pressure and trauma. Speaking to TNM, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Whitefield Division S Girish also added that the initial reports ruled out heart attack as the cause of Lloyd's death.
Lloyd, a resident of Vignan Nagar, was the brother of army officer Colonel David Nehemiah, who is currently serving in Kashmir. Colonel David has alleged that the accused, who were their neighbours, had been harassing his family frequently. He said he had warned them to stop the harassment at least thrice, but in vain.
DCP Girish also confirmed to TNM that the brothers who are accused in the case are the sons of the DSP.