Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 26 (IANS): A 47-year-old man who was nabbed during a vehicle inspection on Saturday night allegedly collapsed and died at a police station in Kerala's Ernakula district. The deceased has been identified as Manoharan.

Locals have claimed that Manoharan was taken into custody during a routine vehicle inspection on Saturday night for drunken driving. They alleged that a police team tried to stop the two-wheeler on which Manoharan was coming. Initially, he did not stop the vehicle but soon came back. "The police asked him why he had not stopped the vehicle and beaten him mercilessly," locals alleged.

Manoharan was taken into custody and brought to Hill Palace police station of Thrippunithura where he collapsed and was taken to a hospital where he was declared dead.

Ernakulam's Youth Congress President Mohammed Shiyaz, while speaking to IANS, hit out at the police and said: "... Custodial torture is the order of the day. Police don't have the right to beat up people, and Manoharan, according to locals, is a person who never consumes liquor."

He also claimed that drug peddling is becoming a regular affair in Ernakulam but the police do not have any clue about this. Shiyaz said that there were 12 murders in Ernakulam district last year and the police were not able to crack them.

Rema Devi, an agriculture labourer who was a witness to the incident, told media persons that "the police tried to stop Manoharan but he did not stop the vehicle immediately. Soon, he stopped the vehicle and when he removed his helmet, police slapped him on the face, and even after local people informed the police that Manoharan does not consume liquor, the police did not relent and took him into custody. We later heard the news about his death. He was an ordinary man with two children."

When contacted, Hill Palace Police station officials said that the police did not beat up Manoharan and he was brought to the station for being taken to the general hospital for an alcohol test.