THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A complaint has been lodged for brutally thrashing an auto driver after mistaking him as a thief. R Kumar, a resident of Ambalathara and an auto driver of Manakkad stand was assaulted severely. Kumar has been admitted to the medical college hospital with serious spinal injuries.

The incident happened on Monday night. The auto of the same name as Kumar's auto had been stolen. Seeing Kumar’s auto while patrolling, the police misunderstood it as the stolen auto. The police who reached the auto stand asked Kumar whose vehicle it was. When he said that it was his auto, the police thrashed him brutally. They tortured him brutally in the jeep and at the Fort Police Station also.

After realizing that Kumar was not the accused, the police admitted their mistake and gave him Rs 500 for a massage and sent him back. Kumar was rushed to Fort Hospital and later to the medical college hospital after he collapsed at home. During an examination found that he said sustained spinal injuries. Following that, Kumar's wife Shyama lodged a complaint with the chief minister, the human rights commission and the city police commissioner.