Initial suspicion of death due to heart attack turns out to be murder
Murder accused Pruthviraj Appajigowda
Bengaluru: Investigations into the death of a man, who was initially suspected to have died due to heart attack, have taken an intriguing turn with his autopsy revealing that he had died following a head injury caused during a fight.The victim is Sri Ram, 43, an advocate from Kengunte. Police have now taken the accused Pruthviraj Appajigowda, 31, an auto driver from Gollarahatti in Magadi Road, into custody.The incident took place on Oct 9 morning when Sri Ram was found lying unconscious on Nagarabavi Outer Ring Road and the on-patrol Hoysala police had shifted him to a nearby private hospital. Later on the same day, he had died.According to police, Sri Ram never disclosed the fact that he had fallen unconscious following the fight. His family noticed injury marks on his body and approached the jurisdictional police from Annapoorneshwarinagar station, saying they suspect foul play.The body was sent for post-mortem and the reports that recently arrived suggested that the 43-year-old advocate had died due to a blood clot in the brain.“We learnt that Sri Ram was attacked by an auto driver near Ambedkar Institute of Technology in Mallathahalli. Later, we traced the auto and its driver Pruthviraj. According to Pruthviraj, there was a heated argument between the two over the tariff. Sri Ram had asked Pruthviraj for a ride and did not agree to the price quoted by him. Saying he will catch another auto, Sri Ram walked away. Angered over the refusal, Pruthviraj followed him and attacked. Sri Ram sustained internal head injuries when Pruthviraj pushed him to the ground. There were few more auto drivers with Pruthviraj when the incident took place and we are looking for them,” an investigating officer said.“There are allegations that accused person had taken away Sri Ram’s mobile phone and some cash. We are looking into it,” he added.
