THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The police’ arguments are falling apart in the alleged custodial death of a youth in Thiruvallom. The police had earlier said that there were no injuries in Suresh’s (42) body and that he died of heart attack. However, the doctors who performed Suresh’s post-mortem said the bruises on various parts of his body may have increased the risk of heart disease and that would have led to the heart attack. Suresh, son of Prabhakaran and Sudha of TC 65/776 Charuvila house in Nelliyodu, Thiruvallom, died on February 28.

The post-mortem confirmed that Suresh’s death was due to heart attack. There are about 12 bruises in various parts of the body, which are likely to have been caused by police harassment at the station. These bruises might have led to the sudden heart attack. Hence, the doctors have demanded a detailed investigation into the incident. The post-mortem report that came out earlier, had only heart attack as the cause of death, following which the police remained stern on their stance that it was not a custodial death. However, once the crime branch took over the case, conducted detailed investigation and sought doctors’ opinion, the police’ arguments have fallen apart.

The bruises were found on various parts of the body such as on the right side of the neck below the jaw bone, on the neck towards left, on the backside of both thighs, on the right thigh above the knee, below the shoulder towards the back of left hand and on six areas on the back towards the top, bottom, left and right. The post-mortem report contains details such as the length and breadth of the bruises. However, the report does not mention the cause of the bruises.

Suresh and four of his friends namely Rajesh, Rajesh Kumar, Vineeth and Biju were arrested by the Thiruvallam police on February 27 for attacking a young couple at Judgekunnu in Thiruvallom. The next morning, Suresh had suffered a heart attack at the police station. The locals had alleged that the police, who arrived at the spot on the woman’s complaint, had brutally beaten Suresh and his friends before taking them into custody. The police had dragged Suresh and his friends to the jeep. After this, the family and the locals came to know about the news of Suresh's death, the next day. On February 28, Suresh was rushed to the Poonthura Government Hospital and later to Ananthapuri Hospital, but could not be saved.