Man ends life owing to alleged police harassment

A 21-year-old man, who was booked in a vehicle theft case, committed suicide by overdosing on some tablets.

Thimmaraju was working as an assistant at a grocery shop in Mattikere. He was rushed to MS Ramaiah Hospital after he was found unconscious on Tuesday, and on Wednesday he succumbed at the hospital. Thimmaraju's relatives alleged that he took the extreme step owing to harassment by Jalahalli police.

It is learnt that Thimmaraju was booked as the second accused in a vehicle theft case by Jalahalli police earlier this month. Sandeep Patil, DCP( North) said: "There are allegations of police harassment and we are looking into the matter. If we find that there was harassment by the local police, we will take strict action against them," he said, adding: "this was Thimmaraju's first offence and there were no pending cases against him." However, the jurisdictional police refused the allegation, calling it baseless.

"We have not even taken him into custody. We did not find any suicide note. We are investigating why he committed suicide, and from what we have heard so far, we think that a family matter or some love story gone wrong may have led to him taking the extreme step," a police officer said.