GUNTUR: The death of a 35-year-old man at Sattenapalli, who died within an hour after he was allegedly thrashed by police for stepping out of his house to buy medicines during the lockdown on Monday, sparked protests in the town.His relatives staged a protest demanding action against the police officer responsible for the death. Following allegations and protests, the police higher-ups suspended Two Town Sub-Inspector D Ramesh after conducting a preliminary inquiry.

According to police, Shaik Mohammed Ghouse, a timber depot owner from Venkatapathi Nagar, was stopped at a check post while he was going to purchase medicines. He was asked to return to his house and upon confrontation by the police, he collapsed on the roadside. Police shifted him to hospital where he was pronounced dead. The deceased was suffering from chronic ailment, police claimed.

Ghouse’s family members, however, alleged that the police beat him up leading to his death. Locals and relatives of Ghouse later staged a protest in front of Two Town police station.Additional SP K Chakravarthy rushed to Sattenapalli and pacified the mob by promising to take action against the guilty after conducting a thorough inquiry into the incident.Addressing the media in Guntur, Guntur Zone IG J Prabhakar Rao and SP ChVijaya Rao said that the SI was placed under suspension pending inquiry into the incident.

Prabhakar Rao assured that as per procedure, an inquiry would be conducted into the incident by the Revenue Divisional Officer. A case of unnatural death was registered as per the directions of DGP Gautam Sawang, he said.

Opposition Leader N Chandrababu Naidu condemned the ‘attack’ on Ghouse and demanded an inquiry into the incident. Sattenapalli MLA Amabati Rambabu too condemned the incident and assured to take action against the SI and handed over `1 lakh financial assistance to the family of the deceased.
Late in the night, the AP police, through its official Twitter handle, said that Ghouse who
suffered from cyanotic congenital heart disease since his childhood, underwent an operation.

“No physical injuries were found on the body. An inquest was conducted by  the Sub Divisional Magistrate and postmortem was conducted by a team of doctors and the process was videographed,” the police said. It was stated that the written complaint by Ghouse’s family member did not make any allegations against police.A case has been registered and it is being investigated. Parallelly, the DGP has ordered a departmental inquiry into the incident, the police said.