BANGALORE: A 26-year-old man committed suicide by hanging himself in the Ashoknagar police station here on Tuesday afternoon.

The Commissioner of Police, S. Mariswamy, gave the name of the dead as Yesu alias George of Akkithimmanahalli in Shanthinagar. He told presspersons that crime constables attached to the Ashoknagar police station had brought Yesu to the station around 12.30 p.m. as he was a suspect in a robbery case.

He was kept in a room on the first floor of the police station. Around 2 p.m., when the constables went to the room to give him food, they found that the door was closed. When they opened the door, they saw Yesu's body hanging from the ventilator in the toilet. "He had hanged himself with a bed sheet that was provided to him by the police," Mr. Mariswamy said. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, has directed Mr. Mariswamy to place under suspension the Ashoknagar Inspector, H.G. Mariswamy Gowda.

`No proof of torture'

To a question, Mr. Mariswamy said there is no evidence of the police beating Yesu at the station. When the incident occurred, an assistant sub-inspector, Chikkasiddaiah, who was the station house officer, was at the station along with three constables. The Inspector and other staff were deployed on security duty, he said.

Mr. Mariswamy said that as it is a case of custodial death, the investigation will be handed over to the Corps of Detectives. The jurisdictional magistrate will conduct an inquest and a report will be submitted to the National Human Rights Commission in accordance with the law. The autopsy will be videographed, he said.

The Assistant Commissioner of Police (Yeshwanthapur subdivision), M.B. Apanna, will conduct a preliminary inquiry, he said.

In 1997, the Ashoknagar police arrested Yesu on charges of bicycle theft in 1997 and recovered from him three bicycles. He was an accused in a kidnap and rape case reported from the same police station limits in 2001, Mr. Mariswamy said.

Residents' complaint

On Tuesday morning, some residents of Akkithimmanahalli, where Yesu's house is located, complained to the police that he was causing trouble. Crime constables went there and brought him to the station suspecting his involvement in a robbery case, Mr. Mariswamy said. Yesu's body is kept in the Bowring Hospital mortuary.

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