The collapsed suddenly during questioning, no one hit him, police said. (Representational)
A 36-year-old man collapsed while being questioned by police and then later died in a private hospital in Kerala's Malappuram.
The incident occurred on Monday night at the Pandikkad police station, an officer said.
Two civil police officers (CPOs) have been suspended in connection with the incident and a departmental inquiry will be initiated against them, the officer of Pandikkad police station said on Tuesday.
A case of unnatural death under section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code has also been registered and further course of action would be taken after the post mortem report is received, the officer said.
The incident led to strong protests outside the police station by Youth Congress (YC) activists today, according to visuals on TV channels.
Visuals also showed activists of the Congress, its youth wing YC and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) blocking a road in protest against the incident.
The protests ended after the CPOs were suspended, police said.
Meanwhile, some of the local people's representatives, who claimed to be present at the station at the time of the incident, alleged that police officers beat up the victim.
The allegation was denied by the police, which said that the man was diabetic, a heart patient and also an alcoholic.
"He collapsed suddenly during questioning. No one hit him. We took him to a nearby hospital where he was examined and then taken to a private super speciality hospital.
"There doctors found three blocks in his heart. He died due to a cardiac arrest," the officer said.
The doctor of the private hospital who examined the victim told a TV channel that the deceased had a long history of heart ailment and was taking medication for the same.
The doctor also said that he did not notice any injuries on the man's body.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)