Police officials in Bengaluru's Bommanahalli police station are under investigation after an accused man fell to death from the roof of his home when officials were trying to take him into custody on Wednesday, May 24. The family of Mohammed Taheer Hussain has alleged that he was stripped naked and pushed off the roof by a police officer during the altercation. An FIR has been registered against eight people including Sunil, a police official from the Bommanahalli police station. The case has been transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
The incident took place when police officials from the Bommanahalli police station were trying to take 29-year-old Taheer, an affluent builder, into custody on Wednesday. A complaint was made in the police station against Taheer alleging that he threatened a woman with a machete a day earlier. According to witnesses and his family members, police officials and the complainants chased Taheer and isolated him on the fourth-floor terrace of his home at around 3 pm.
What happened on the roof is a point of dispute, but shortly after, Hussain fell from the terrace onto the road outside his home. He succumbed to the injuries sustained on impact.
Taheer's family alleges that the police officer Sunil assaulted him and pushed him from the terrace. "The police worked with those who complained against my son. They assaulted him and stripped him naked. He was then pushed off the roof by the police officer Sunil," alleged Taheer's father Fayaz Ahmed to TNM. Taheer's clothes, particularly his trousers and underwear, were on the roof of the building on Thursday. The police’s bike was also at Taheer’s residence as they fled from the spot after Taheer fell from the terrace. It was the family that rushed Taheer to the hospital even as the police officers fled the spot leaving behind their bike and lathis.
Another witness claimed that police stripped Taheer naked because they wanted to humiliate him. “Taheer was asking if he could come to the police station dressed. After this was refused, he attempted to jump off the ledge of the roof out of shame. The police tried to stop him but in the altercation that ensued, Taheer fell off the roof,” the witness said. The witness alleged that along with Sunil, three other police officers were also present during the incident.
The complainants who accused Taheer are Sadiq Pasha, an auto driver, and Adil Pasha, an independent candidate in the recently concluded elections in Bommanahalli. Adil also heads the All India Human Rights Federation, a human rights organisation in the area. The fight between the groups broke out after Taheer was accused of attacking a woman, a relative of Sadiq Pasha, with a machete on Tuesday, a day before his death. Taheer’s family has alleged that Sadiq and Adil work closely with the police and that they assaulted Taheer knowing that they had the backing of the police.
While the police in Bommanahalli claim Taheer was a troublemaker, they are yet to address the circumstances that led to his death. "The investigation has been handed over to the CID and appropriate action will be taken," a senior police officer told TNM.