In a tragic incident, a 17-year-old boy committed suicide at his residence in Hyderabad after he was accused of stealing a mobile phone and was allegedly tortured by the police.
Tarun Yadav, an Airtel telecaller executive, lived with his family at Mirjalguda and was summoned by the Lalaguda police on Wednesday morning, in connection to a petty fight that occurred during the previous evening.
The Times of India reported that four friends including Tarun, had a party at the Railway Institute, North Lalaguda on Tuesday evening and a tab, a phone and some money belonging to Tarun's friend named Sushil were allegedly stolen by Tarun after a minor fight.
Sushil registered a case that night and the gadgets were subsequently recovered from Tarun.
"After the gadgets were recovered, Sushil wanted to withdraw the case and approached inspector Karan Kumar Singh. The inspector chided him and refused to allow him to withdraw the case,'' S Shankar Yadav, Tarun Yadav's brother, told TOI.
The family has alleged that Tarun and his other friend Sandeep who were summoned on Wednesday were beaten up from morning till night. They also claimed that the inspector was demanding Rs 1 lakh to release the duo. Sandeep and Tarun were finally let off late in the night on station bail and Lalaguda sub-inspector Sudhir is said to have told them to come to court on Thursday with Rs 15,000.
After reaching home that night, Tarun went into the room and hung himself.
The police however have denied the charges. “We counselled the man and his friends, and after registering a petty case, he was released on bail in the evening,” Inspector Lalaguda Karan Kumar Singh told The Hindu.
A report in the Deccan Chronicle adds that the Malkajgiri police investigating the suicide booked a case of suspicious death, with no mention of the allegations made by Yadav’s family. The panchnama issued by the Malkajgiri police also stated that Yadav was addicted to alcohol and marijuana and claimed that he was 18-years-old.
The police were also reported to claim that the Lalaguda police recovered a small packet of marijuana from Tarun's pocket.