VIJAYAWADA: A 24-year-old man, Yaswanth, who was in police custody for questioning in a bike theft case, was found dead under suspicious circumstances near the Eluru CCS police station on Thursday. While his family alleges custodial death, police claim it was suicide.
Without informing his parents, CCS police allegedly shifted Yaswanth’s body to Eluru Government General Hospital (GGH) for postmortem. His family, denied access to him for three days, staged a protest, demanding accountability.
According to his father, Yaswanth was first questioned a month ago and released. On March 2, he was called again with four others.
“Police didn’t allow us to see him or provide food. On Thursday, they suddenly said he died by suicide. This is custodial death,” he alleged.
However, CCS police claim Yaswanth was released on Wednesday night and later found dead near a drainage canal. Eluru SP Kommi Shiv Pratap Kishore stated a case has been registered, denying allegations of torture and suspecting health issues. Investigation is ongoing.