Bangalore:
In a case of clear violation of the Supreme Court directive, a corpse was left to decompose in Vrishabhavathi Valley storm water drain on the Mysore-Bangalore highway, even after being discovered five days earlier.
The reason -- the Bidadi and Talaghattapura police stations were in debate over whose jurisdiction the spot fell under.
Despite repeated requests by local residents, officials of neither station refused take up investigations. The residents of Tagachiguppe staged a rasta-roko for a few hours on Tuesday to get the attention of the higher-ups.
"We thought that the case would be taken care of, but when nothing happened even after three days, we decided to protest and staged a rasta-roko. The body was highly decomposed and was emitting a foul smell. Due to the delay, the face was disfigured," said an angry resident.
Though teams from Bidadi and Talaghattapura police stations rushed to the spot, they only cleared the traffic by convincing the protestors that the necessary steps would be taken, but as soon as the residents dispersed, they ignored the body and vanished.
Only after the matter was brought to the attention of the Director General and Inspector General of police, did the Bidadi police shift the body to Ramnagar general hospital and file a case of unnatural death.
DG&IGP S T Ramesh said that he would conduct an enquiry into the incident.
As per the rules, any police officer irrespective of the jurisdiction, should take up the case and report it to his higher-ups. "The officer in-charge would decide later, in which jurisdiction the case would fall and shift the case to the concerned station," he said adding that he would take necessary action in this regard.
SP, Ramnagar S B Bisnelli denied any such incident occurred saying that the Bidadi police had taken up the case on Tuesday and are investigating. Asked about the five-day delay due to the jurisdictional conflict, he said that he is not aware of this and would enquire.