Date:18/04/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/04/18/stories/2009041860530400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Case booked against youth for suicide bid

Staff Reporter

Bangalore: The suicide bid of a 19-year-old youth in front of the Rajarajeshwarinagar police station has taken a new turn.

A private college on Mysore Road has clarified that he was now not its student. On the other hand, the Rajarajeshwarinagar police have booked a case against N. Lokesh Kumar for attempting to commit suicide by consuming poison in front of the station.

Lokesh Kumar, a resident of Bangarappa Layout, had tried to end his life on Wednesday. It was alleged that the Rajarajeshwarinagar police had snatched Rs. 5,000 from Lokesh while he was on his way to Vidya Vikas College to pay the examination fees. Lokesh’s parents alleged that he tried to commit suicide unable to bear police harassment. Lokesh is recovering in a private hospital on Magadi Road and the police have decided to record his statement. “We will initiate action against the police officials concerned if they are found guilty,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) N. Shivakumar told The Hindu here on Friday.

According to preliminary investigations, the police had not violated any rules or harassed Lokesh, and they also did not snatch money from him, the DCP said.

Earlier, Lokesh’s mother Gowramma and brother Nagendra Kumar alleged that he was heading towards the Vidya Vikas College at Pantharapalya in Nayandahalli on Mysore Road to pay the exam fees.

But the college authorities on Friday said: “Lokesh is a college dropout.”