The body has been sent for post-mortem to determine the cause of death (Representational)
A 17-year old tribal student died under suspicious circumstances at a shopping mall in Hyderabad after he was caught by security guards for allegedly "stealing" chocolates, police said today.
The parents of boy alleged that their son was beaten to death by the security guards in the incident that occurred on Sunday night while police said CCTV footage showed there was no manhandling and further investigation was on.
The boy collapsed while being frisked by security guards and was taken to a hospital where he was declared brought dead, the police told news agency Press Trust of India.
According to police inspector A Venkataiah, the boy, a second year Intermediate student of a private junior college and staying in hostel, had gone to the mall along with his friends when it was about to close. He had allegedly picked up some chocolates and kept them in his pocket.
"The boy threw the chocolates after seeing the security personnel and collapsed when the security guards were frisking him. We have verified CCTV footage which clearly shows that the boy was not manhandled by the security, but was being questioned," Mr Venkataiah told news agency PTI.
They suspect cardiac arrest could have been the cause of death, but only a post-mortem would reveal the exact reason, he added.
The parents of the boy demanded action against the mall authorities.