NIZAMABAD: Alakunta Sampath, who was arrested by cybercrime police on March 4, died on Thursday night while undergoing treatment at the Government General Hospital (GGH), Nizamabad.
The news prompted allegations from his relatives that the 31-year-old was a victim of custodial torture. However, the police made it clear that Sampath was shifted to the hospital after complaining of fatigue and pain in his left hand, where he passed away during treatment.
Police registered a case and handed the body after postmortem to his family, who claimed that there were signs of injuries from police beatings. Sampath was arrested on March 4 based on a complaint filed by Gulf job fraud victims.
Sampath’s ‘victims’ were forced into cyber slavery
Sampath, a native of Aathargaon village in Peddapalli district, was accused of luring unemployed rural youth to Thailand, Myanmar and Laos, where they were forced into cyber slavery.
He was arrested on March 4 and was taken into custody again on March 12 through a court order for further investigation.
During interrogation, Sampath confessed to the crime and disclosed that he had two mobile phones in his office. His statement was also recorded.
On Thursday, Cybercrime sleuths took him to his office, Sri Rama Manpower Consultancy, in Jagtial, where they recovered the phones and recorded his statement again. He was brought back to Nizamabad Cybercrime police station at around 9:45 pm.
Later that night, Sampath complained of fatigue and pain in his left hand. He was rushed to the GGH, where doctors began treatment. At 10:49 pm, he suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed. Despite CPR being administered, he died due to a cardiac arrest.
His family was informed, and they arrived at the hospital early on Friday. The body was later moved for postmortem.
Nizamabad Police Commissioner P Sai Chaitanya stated that the postmortem was conducted following Supreme Court and NHRC guidelines, in the presence of a magistrate and three forensic experts, with videography documentation. Statements from two family members were also recorded. The body was later handed over to the family. A DSP-rank officer has been assigned to investigate the case. He also mentioned that CCTV footage and documentary evidence related to the case were available and a report would be sent to the NHRC.
Meanwhile, Sampath’s family members continued to allege that he died due to police torture. They have demanded action against the investigating officers. “Sampath met his family in Jagtial and spoke to them over the phone, telling them about the beatings by the police,” said his relative Vallepu Shankar Raj. Sampath’s two wives have demanded justice.
A relative mentioned that the family received a call from the police at 12:30 am. He added that Sampath had earlier asked his family to arrange Rs 10 lakh but did not reveal the reason. While the family was busy arranging the money, they received news of his death.
Meanwhile, Nizamabad ACP L Raja Venkat Reddy, One-Town SHO B Raghupathi and other officials met the victim’s family at GGH mortuary and attempted to pacify them.