KOTTAYAM: A man who was arrested by the police for creating trouble in his house in an inebriated state was found dead inside the toilet of the Manarcad police station near Kottayam on Tuesday. The deceased is U Navas, 27, of Edathara House, Rajiv Gandhi Colony, Areeparamb.
Navas, who went missing by 9.15 am, was found hanging inside the visitor’s bathroom at 10.30 am during the search led by station house officer K Shiji.
Navas presumably hanged himself from the window of the toilet using his lungi. Though Navas was rushed to the Government Medical College Hospital, he was declared brought dead by hospital authorities.
According to the police, Navas was arrested on Monday night for creating trouble in his house and attacking family members under the influence of alcohol. He was arrested by a police team led by station house officer Shiji following a complaint lodged by Navas’ brother Naushad and his relatives around 10.30 pm. He was brought to the station after conducting medical examination.
‘Negligence of officers’
Kottayam district police chief Hari Sankar ruled out the possibilities of custodial torture after checking the visuals of the CCTV cameras installed in the station. He said there was no procedural lapse on the part of the police in the arrest and further procedures.
“However, there was negligence from a couple of officers in ensuring the protection of the youth,” Hari Sankar said.
Report sought
He has already instructed Special Branch DySP P A Prakasan to submit a report on the situation wherein the youth hanged himself in the toilet. District Crime Records Bureau DySP Parthasarathy Pillai will lead detailed investigation in the case.
Hari Sankar said all the formalities stipulated in custodial death incidents will be followed in the case. The inquest was done under the aegis of Kottayam Revenue Divisional Officer and the postmortem procedures to be held in Govt Medical College Hospital, Kottayam will be video recorded.
DGP: Initiate stringent action
DGP Loknath Behera has given directions to Ernakulam Range IG Vijay Sakhare and DCP Hari Sankar to initiate stringent action against the police officers who committed lapses in the case. “A magisterial level inquiry will be conducted as per the guidelines of the Supreme Court and National Human Rights Commission into the incident,” the DGP said in a statement.