Threatened by Bangalore cops, painter kills self

CHENNAI: A 20-year-old painter committed suicide in Peerkankaranai on Monday after he was allegedly harassed by the Bangalore Police in connection with the disappearance of a minor girl, who was reportedly staying in his friend’s house.M Sugumaran of Kamarajapuram ended his life by hanging on Monday afternoon, police said. Police said that the minor girl from Spoorthi Nagar, Bangalore, was reported missing on October 29 and the girl’s parents had lodged a complaint at Subramanyapura police station there. During investigations, police found that the girl had allegedly eloped with one Mani Gowda (22). When Bangalore police had traced his cellphone call details, they had found that the 22-year-old had often received phone calls from a number at Peerkankaranai and that number belonged to Sugumaran. Police said that Mani Gowda’s brother Manju Gowda was living in Peerkankaranai and had two friends - Murthy and Mani. Mani Gowda, who had come with the minor girl, had stayed in Murthy’s house. Murthy was a common friend of Manju Gowda and Sugumaran, police said adding that whenever Murthy left his house, he had used Sugumaran’s mobile to contact Mani Gowda, who was living with the girl in his house. Bangalore Police, which traced the calls made to cellphone of Mani Gowda, found out that he had received calls from Sugumaran’s phone. Peerkankaranai police said that Bangalore Police had come down to their station last week and had brought Sugumaran to the police station to conduct an inquiry. The 20-year-old had asked for a day to find and hand over the couple to them. “But we asked him to take three days,” said a police official. It is alleged that Bangalore Police, who left on the same day after meeting Sugumaran, had repeatedly made calls to his mobile asking him to find the couple soon.  “They had called him on Monday and told him that he would be taken into custody if he does not find the couple. He knew the whereabouts of the couple but hid the information to save his friend. He committed suicide on Monday afternoon while his mother was sitting outside the house. He was involved in some petty cases also,” said a police official.