A 50-year-old man who was accused of stealing liqour was found dead in a well in Niduvatti village near Hosakote after being taken into police custody on Friday. The inspector, sub inspector and four other staff of the police station went absconding soon after the incident came to light.
Five policemen have been suspended and the case has been handed over to the CID. External injuries have been found on the body, said Ravi D Chennanavar, superintendent of police.
The deceased has been identified as Munipillappa, a resident of Bengaluru. He was working as a daily wager in a timber yard.
A senior police officer said Munipillappa was accused of stealing liquor from a bar in his village three days ago and Thirumashettihalli police had arrested him. He had hid the liquor in the well and when police took him there, he jumped to his death. There has been no water in the well for a few years.
The family of the deceased, however, alleged that the police had dumped his body in the well after brutally assaulting him.
The body was shifted to Victoria Hospital and the postmortem is yet to be conducted.
Based on a complaint by Dhanalakshmi, wife of Munipillappa, a case has been registered and the case has been handed over to the CID for further investigation.
Dhanalakshmi, in her complaint, alleged that circle inspector Raghu, sub inspector Rakesh and crime staff Santhosh, Srinivas and Munirappa had come to their house on Wednesday and took him for questioning before letting him go. On Friday, they again took him away and kicked him on his abdomen. Then they pushed him into the well, she alleged.
Since Munipillapa is from the Scheduled Caste, DSS activists held a protest in the village. Chennanavar visited the spot and suspended the police staff. Then the protest was called off. Munipillappa's elder brother Kantaraju is a member of the taluk panchayat, YSM Manju, a DSS worker, said.