Following the death, on Wednesday, of a man in police custody, his family claim that they were given a bribe by police from the Kannagi Nagar police station to refrain from pursuing a complaint on the issue.
Ganga, the mother of Karthik, who died in custody, claims that the family was offered an amount of Rs 4 lakh by policemen at the Kannagi Nagar police station. An amount of Rs 2 lakh was given to the family and another Rs 2 lakh offered to them, she alleged.
On Saturday, Ganga filed a complaint with the Commissioner regarding the custodial death of her son. She stated in her letter of complaint that when she saw her son’s body at the Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital, it was covered with injuries – including on his head and thighs. The complaint also stated that his right leg was broken.
In her complaint, Ganga said that on September 19, Karthik left the house saying that he was going to buy a sim card. The next day, some people living nearby told her that Karthik, and his friend Arunachalam had been arrested. When she went to Kannagi Nagar station at around 1.30pm, the police told her that he was not there and had been taken to another station for investigation. They also told her that her son was lying to the police and was not cooperating with them.
On September 21, she said, the police told her that during the robbery, her son had suffered some injuries and had been admitted to Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital. However, on Wednesdaynight, she found out that her son had died. On Thursday, she was finally allowed to see her son’s body at the hospital.
Ganga stated that she then went back to the Kannagi Nagar police station on Thursday to file a complaint in regard to his death. However she alleged, the police did not file a complaint. They also did not show her the FIR filed against Karthik and Arunachalam, as stated in the complaint.
In her complaint, Ganga has named two policemen – sub-inspector Bhagyaraj and head constable Vijaykumar – of the Kannagi Nagar police station and blamed them for Karthik’s death.
Officials at the Kannagi Nagar Police Station were unavailable for comment on the allegations.