THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Still under fire for the alleged custodial death of an accused at Thiruvallam police station, the city police have courted controversy again by taking an auto rickshaw driver into custody and allegedly subjecting him to third degree torture. What was even worse was that victim, R Kumar of Ambalathara, was taken into custody over a mistaken identity.
The incident happened at Fort police station. R Kumar was taken into custody on Monday morning and let go by evening when the police realised their mistake. They even allegedly placed a Rs 500 currency note in his pocket, advising him to take a massage treatment at an ayurvedic centre for the damages they caused to his body. The relatives of the victim claimed that the police took him into custody, mistaking him for a suspect they were searching for in connection with a theft case, from the rickshaw stand near Manacaud Government Girls’ School on Monday. They beat him up on the spot when a clueless Kumar resisted the arrest. Later, after taking him to the police station, he was subjected to more severe measures of torture.
The city crime branch has launched a probe into the matter after Kumar’s family filed a complaint before City Police Commissioner G Sparjankumar .
Kumar’s nephew said his uncle has suffered a fracture on his spine and may need to undergo a surgery. Currently, he is admitted in Medical College Hospital.
‘’His auto rickshaw is named ‘Shyama’. There was chain snatching reported recently in which the perpetrators turned up in a rickshaw bearing the same name. This was why the police suspected my uncle for the theft,’’ he said.
