By The Hindu Bureau
Copyright thehindu
The Anantapur police on Tuesday (September 16, 2025) dismissed reports that an accused died while in police custody and stated that he died of a heart attack.
Reports emerged that M. Rama Krishna Naik, 35, who was caught along with four others on charges of gambling, died after allegedly being tortured by the police while in custody. Following the reports, Superintendent of Police P. Jagadeesh ordered an enquiry.
Anantapur Rural Deputy Superintendent of Police T. Venkatesulu said Singanamala sub-inspector of police P. Vijay Kumar got a tip-off that some people were indulging in gambling at Nagulaguddam Tanda in Singanamala mandal. The police reached the place at 10.30 p.m. on September 14 and found Rama Krishna, Rohith Naik, Bhaskar Naik, Gopal Naik and Suresh Naik playing “manga-patta” and seized ₹7,650 cash and 52 playing cards.
Mr. Venkatesulu said that local elders namely Sudarshan Naik, Sreenivasulu Naik and others soon intervened and requested the police to not arrest them and assured that the five will appear at Singanamala police station the next day. On September 15 around 9 a.m., Rama Krishna complained of chest pain and was shifted to Garladinne PHC for treatment.
From there, he was shifted to Singanamala community health centre for better treatment. “At 10.30 a.m., he was admitted to the CHC by family members and duty doctor Rohinath started treatment. However, at 10.50 a.m., Rama Krishna complained of severe chest pain and suffered heart stroke. At 11.40 a.m., the doctors declared him dead,” the DSP said.
The reports claiming that they were brought to the police station and tortured were false, the DSP said, adding “verification of CCTV footage at the police station showed no movement of the persons caught gambling.”
