The Madanayakanahalli police have booked an inspector attached to the Vivek Nagar police station and three other police officers after a 22-year-old man, whom they had enrolled in a rehabilitation centre in Adakamaranahalli, died under suspicious circumstances.
The case, registered as murder, has been transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) due to its complexity and seriousness.
The death occurred on Wednesday, when the deceased, Darshan P.G., was admitted to the Unity Social Service rehabilitation centre on November 16.
Initially, the police registered an unnatural death report based on a complaint by Darshan’s mother. However, she grew suspicious after noticing beating marks on her son’s body.
C.K. Baba, Superintendent of Police, Bengaluru Rural, told The Hindu that the post-mortem report revealed Darshan had sustained multiple injuries. Following this, the mother filed another complaint naming the Vivek Nagar police and the rehabilitation centre.
According to the complaint, Darshan was detained by the Vivek Nagar police on November 12 for allegedly creating a public nuisance by fighting with neighbours while under the influence of alcohol. However, no complaint against him exists in the records of the Vivek Nagar police station.
“When I went to bail him out on November 15, the police said they would send my son to jail, so I requested them to send him to a rehabilitation centre instead as he was addicted to alcohol. The police located a centre and shifted Darshan to the Unity Social Service centre and took ₹7,500 for admission,” the mother stated in her complaint.
She further alleged that she called the rehabilitation centre every day to check on her son, and the authorities repeatedly assured her that he was doing fine. However, they never allowed her to speak to him directly.
On November 26, the rehabilitation centre informed her that Darshan had died and was taken to the Nelamangala Government Hospital. She told the police that the authorities claimed he had died due to respiratory problems. However, marks found on his body raised further suspicion within the family.
The mother also expressed suspicion about the involvement of the Vivek Nagar police. The Madanayakanahalli police included the Vivek Nagar inspector and staff in the case, as Darshan had been transferred to the rehabilitation centre directly from their ‘custody’.
The case registered at Madanayakanahalli, in which the inspector is listed as accused no. 1, has been filed under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 103(1) (murder), 127(3) (wrongful confinement for three days or more), 3(5) (criminal act committed by several persons in furtherance of common intention), and relevant sections of the SC/ST Act.
However, it is important to note that the Vivek Nagar police had neither booked any case against Darshan nor officially held him in custody. According to sources, keeping him in their custody was illegal. Technically, the case does not qualify as a custodial death, as no case had been registered against him, and he was not officially under the police custody.
The CID will now investigate the alleged illegal detention and the subsequent sequence of events.
A senior police officer told The Hindu that no immediate action can be taken against the Vivek Nagar inspector and staff until evidence was obtained against them.
The case has surfaced at a time when the Bengaluru City police were facing widespread criticism due to frequent involvement of officers in criminal activities such as robbery, collusion with drug peddlers and rowdies, and more. In the past year, 128 police officers across various ranks have been suspended for dereliction of duty and other violations.