BENGALURU:
A teenager from Bengaluru who allegedly killed a police constable on Wednesday night died in custody barely a few hours after his capture. Allegations arose that it was a case of custodial killing, but the police said it was the result of a cardiac arrest while in custody.
Bujji alias Moorthy (19) had been detained earlier this morning for his role in the fatal stabbing of Hosur Town police station head constable Munusamy (45) on Wednesday night.
Munuswamy was in a posse that responded to a tipoff that a Panchayat Union primary school teacher, Parvathy Suman hade been robbed of her gold chain while driving home on a two-wheeler at Uddanapalli on Wednesday evening. Parvathy suffered injuries in the incident and was taken to the Uddanapalli Government Hospital first and then to the Hosur Government Hospital.
Following the tipoff, a posse from the Hosur Town station led by sub-inspector Nagaraj set out to find the robbers, presumably a four-man gang. They found the suspects near Bharathidasan Nagar near the Hosur railway station. With the policemen hot on their heels, the suspects, Bujji among them, ran into a three-storeyed building. When cornered, Bujji allegedly stabbed the policemen before being overpowered.
The injured cops were rushed to a private hospital nearby where Munusamy died at around 1 am despite treatment.
Though Bujji was caught, the other gang members escaped. The death of Munusamy stirred up police personnel and news came in the morning that the teenaged suspect had died of a heart attack at the police station.
DIG S Nagarajan and the superintendent of police of Krishnagiri district, Bandi Gangadhar, visited the injured policemen in hospital. Officials added that special teams have been sent out to nab the gang members still at large. They are believed to have escaped to Bengaluru.
Police sources added that Bujji and his three associates rented a house at Bharathidasan Nagar in Hosur.
Gangadhar denied that Bujji’s death was a custodial murder. He said the police still investigating the matter.
However, this explanation did not satisfy rights activists like National Confederation of Human Rights Organisations (NCHRO) president A Marx who sought suspension of the personnel involved.
Recalling a previous case in which suspects accused of murdering a police official in Sivaganga district were killed in fake encounters, he said the police should proceed as per the law instead of carrying out extra judicial killings.
