Whodunnit? Rock climbers deny murder of arrested thief, point fingers at police

BENGALURU: A 28-year-old caught stealing by four rock climbers and handed over to the police died the next day and the question is who killed him.
The police have arrested the climbers on charges of murder, while some of the athletes' friends who were witness to what transpired are alleging custodial death. The police declined to reveal the full names of the arrested athletes. Raju, who is from Mysuru, was caught red-handed by the four athletes stealing a bag containing a laptop while they trained at Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Sunday morning. They handed him over to the Sampangi Rama Nagar police at around 6.30am.

Here, inconsistencies in the police and witness accounts crop up.

A phone video shot by the athletes' friends show Raju seemingly alright except for a pronounced limp while being handed over to the police at the stadium. Another video shows Raju being roughed up a bit before this. ET is in procession of these and other videos related to the events.

At the SR Nagar police station, Raju complained of increasing pain, according to inspector SR Narasimhaiah. He was eventually taken to Nimhans by around noon, where he died the following evening.

“In the station, Raju developed pain. He died of internal head injuries later. We have taken action against the four (athletes) and one more is yet to be held,“ said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Sandeep Patil. The athletes were arrested Tuesday evening and sent to 14 days' judicial custody . Nimhans has stated in its medical report that Raju died of internal head injuries.A post-mortem was being done Wednesday evening at Victoria Hospital. Raju's brother, employed with a gym in Indiranagar, and the athletes' friends who were present when Raju was taken by the police are crying foul.

Kishor, an athlete and one of the witnesses, alleged that “something must have gone wrong in the police station... The police took Raju from the station to the hockey stadium, where he had hid the stolen bag. The police asked us to leave the station at around 8.30am, when they started asking Raju if he had accomplices.“

There is no way to say what happened at the police station. Despite directions by the Supreme Court, there were no CCTV cameras inside or outside the station when this reporter visited the station on Wednesday morning.