Did alleged mental torture by the police and delay in hospitalisation lead to the death of Assistant Conservator of Forest Madan Nayak after he was thrashed by a group of party revellers in Dandeli early this week?
If the locals in Dandeli are to be believed, the police tried to ‘negotiate’ with the injured ACF for five long hours even as he was bleeding internally in the head as a result of the attack. They allegedly threatened him, asked him to sit on the floor and threatened of filing cases against his children, hampering their education, if the ACF went ahead with filing any case against the group of revellers.
Questions are now being raised over the motive of the sub-inspector who 'interrogated' the ACF for five long hours. According to sources, from the time the ACF walked into the station to register a complaint, the sub-inspector started pressuring him for an amicable settlement, and even threatened him that a case under Prevention of Atrocities Act would against him if he did not agree.
“When Mr Madan Nayak was in the police station on Monday, he and a few other forest officers in Dandeli received calls from community leaders demanding withdrawal of the cases against the revellers. Police sub-inspector Praveen Neelammanavar kept pressuring the ACF to withdraw the complaint, but was not successful.
"But when Mr Madan Nayak vomited and fell down, the SI panicked and started rushing towards Nayak with a plain paper and pen to take his signature. But Mr Nayak's condition was deteriorating and he had to be shifted in the ambulance”, the sources said.
Surprisingly, Mr Madan Nayak drove back his family members in his car to their residential quarters after they were attacked on the banks of river Kali. After picking another phone from his house, the officer drove to the police station.
“For the first two hours, the officer did not show signs of any major health problems, but started feeling giddy later. When Mr Nayak vomited in the station, an ambulance was called and he was taken to a government hospital. The hospital suggested to the family members to take him to Dharwad. By this time, the officer had slipped into the state of coma," the source said.
A criminal lawyer said that if the case of mental torture is proved, it could be considered a case of custodial death. "The investigating CID team must check the telephone records of deceased officer and other foresters to know if the community leaders called and threatened him," said the lawyer.