A youngster who was summoned by the Arthunkal police for interrogation in connection with a petty case on Sunday was found hanging from a tree near his house, near Cherthala, here on Monday. Following the incident, irate public blocked the Alappuzha-Cherthala coastal road for over two hours and damaged a bus.
The police version is that Shyju, 25, son of Joseph of Pattanassery Colony, near Arthunkal, was summoned to the Arthunkal police station on Sunday morning for interrogation in connection with a case related to the damaging of the window panes of a bus, near the colony about a month ago.
However, the police said, Shyju ran out of the police station around 3 p.m. and remained untraceable though the police had fanned out in the region looking for him. Early on Monday, members of the public found his body hanging from a tree, about 200 m from his house, police said.
The incident snowballed into a public agitation, when irate relatives and neighbours picked up an argument with senior police officials who reached the spot, preventing them from going near the body. The argument then took the form of a road blockade, demanding the suspension of the Arthunkal Sub-Inspector . The blockade on the Alappuzha-Cherthala coastal road lasted for over two hours, with efforts by District Superintendent of Police K.G. James and Revenue Divisional Officer A. Gopakumar to pacify the public going in vain.
Several vehicles, including police jeeps, were blocked and some of the agitators threw stones at a bus, damaging its windows. Finally, Cherthala legislator P. Thilothaman intervened and calmed the public.
The body was then taken to the Alappuzha Medical College Hospital and was handed over to the relatives after a post-mortem.
The body was cremated late on Monday. The case, meanwhile, has been handed over to Mararikulam Circle Inspector R. Sundar Rajan for investigation.
