Kundapur : An auto-rickshaw driver who was detained by Gangolli police for questioning was found dead under mysterious circumstances on a railway track near Nagoor.

On Monday, January 21, at around 3.30 pm, auto-rickshaw driver Rama Poojary (34), a resident Shalebagilu, near Kirimanjeshwar was taken by two policemen to Gangolli police station for questioning.

The police cited that a girl has filed a complaint against him and hence he has to visit the station for questioning. When Poojary did not return till late evening, his family visited the station to know his whereabouts. They allege that they came to know that Poojary was beaten up and when they questioned, the police rudely spoke to them and sent them home.

Upon reaching home, they received a call that Rama Poojary has been examined in the hospital and sent home. However, the family found his dead body in a battered condition near the railway tracks near Nagooru.

The youth from Billava community have alleged police atrocity and are protesting at the place where Poojary’s body was found since Tuesday morning.

Kundapur sub division officer Hariram Shanker visited the spot and tried to pacify the protesters. The protesters demanded that the SP should come to the spot, suspend policemen and register cases against them for inciting suicide. ASP Vishnuvardhan also arrived at the spot.

According to police sources, Rama Poojary was in love with a girl and was blackmailing her family with a video he shot with her. The girl’s family had complained against Rama Poojary asking the police not to register a case but to warn him. Police claim that they have not assaulted Rama Poojary but only sent him back after issuing warning.

ASP Kumar who arrived the spot ordered that the battered dead body of Poojary to be taken for postmortem. But some protesters alleged that policemen have stolen the gold chain that was in Rama Poojary’s neck. “The chain should be returned and action should be taken against the policeman,” they demanded.

The family of Rama Poojary claim that he was brutally assaulted. “His hands, legs and face was swollen and he could not walk. He was mentally disturbed by the assaults,” they alleged.

The truth should come out only after post-mortem. The footage of the CCTV Camera at the station should also be released, they demanded.