Accused in hashish oil case dies in Excise custody, two officers suspended

A man arrested by the Kerala Excise department here for alleged possession of around two kg hashish oil was found hanging inside the lock-up on Thursday morning, Excise officials said.

Idukki native Shojo John (55), who lived in Palakkad with his wife, was arrested last night by an Excise team acting on a tip-off.

''We raided his house on Wednesday night after receiving secret information that he had brought some two kg of hashish oil from somewhere outside the state. We arrested him. But this morning, he was found hanging inside the lock-up,'' a senior Excise official from the district told PTI.

Meanwhile, the Excise Department today suspended two Civil Excise Officers, who were on duty last night when the incident occurred.

The forensic wing of the Kerala police have conducted an inquiry and collected evidence including the CCTV visuals of the office.

Police and the Excise department have initiated a probe into the custodial death of the man.

Excise officials said the victim hanged himself early in the morning.

Meanwhile, the wife of the deceased demanded a probe into the incident.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)