A resident of Panjimogaru area of the city has alleged that Panambur police tortured him for four days to force him to confess to the murdered of a woman and her daughter at Panjimogaru.
Speaking to The Hindu from a private hospital, Musheer (24) said that he was given only one meal a day, but he could not eat because of the pain. Before being let off on Thursday, he was threatened with an “encounter” if he told anybody about the ordeal, he said. “They beat me every hour. Around 15 people took turns in beating me. Some of them told me that they were doctors,” Mr. Musheer said. The police kept telling him to “confess” to the double murder, and say that it was Hamid who had paid him to carry it out, he added.
Mr. Musheer said that an officer told him to come to the Panambur police station on September 12 as he “wanted a word” with him. The officer had met him during a visit to the house of Hamid's (the husband of the murdered woman) elder brother where he (Musheer) and his wife were living on rent.
He said that he was taken to the police station from Jokatte in a car. When he alighted from the car, the officer took the keys of his motorcycle and his mobile phone, he said. On seeing nine men come from behind the police station, Mr. Museheer said he got scared and started to run. However, the men caught him and took him to a room behind the police station on the same compound. Commissioner of Police Seemanth Kumar Singh said that he had not received a complaint, but he would look into it.