Caught by guard for ‘chocolate theft’, teen found dead in store

HYDERABAD: A 17-year-old tribal student died under suspicious circumstances at a general store after he was caught by the security staff for allegedly stealing a chocolate at Vanasthalipuram on the outskirts of Hyderabad on Sunday night, the police said.

The deceased, identified as Lavudya Satish Naik from the Lambada community, was a second-year Intermediate (Class 12) student at Sri Chaitanya College near Hayathnagar.

Naik’s father L Balaji, a farmer, alleged that the boy was thrashed by the supermarket’s security staff on suspicion of stealing a chocolate, but the police said footage from the store’s Closed Circuit Camera Television (CCTV) doesn’t seem to suggest this. “We have booked a case of suspicious death based on the complaint filed by the deceased’s father and the college authorities. We have sent the body for a post-mortem to find the exact cause of his death,” said A Venkataiah, Vanasthalipuram circle inspector.

Sunpreet Singh, L B Nagar deputy commissioner of police (DCP), added that if the allegation is true, “We won’t spare the supermarket authorities.”

Venkaiah said the incident occurred at 9.30 pm on Sunday when Naik and two of his friends visited the general store around closing time.

They didn’t buy anything and were leaving when Naik was accosted by one of the staff members for allegedly “stealing” a chocolate bar.

“As the boys were leaving the store, the security guard called him back. Naik dropped the chocolate and went back to the guard. As he was being frisked, a woman guard noticed the chocolate and handed it over to one of her colleagues. Naik collapsed during his questioning,” the inspector said.

Initially, the staff thought Naik was faking it, but when he did not get up after a while, they took him to a private hospital where he was declared brought dead. “Some of his classmates helped the store management inform the college authorities, who broke the news to his parents,” the inspector said.

On Monday, Naik’s parents and relatives rushed to the store and staged a sit-in, alleging he was beaten to death by the supermarket’s security staff . “Even if he stole a chocolate, he should have been handed over to the police or the college authorities. How can they beat him to death?” Balaji asked.

Naik’s father demanded action against the college authorities for allowing Naik to leave the hostel for shopping without informing either his parents or local guardian.

However, college principal Upender Reddy said the hostel authorities had taken a written undertaking from Naik and his friends before allowing them to go out.

The general store authorities refused to comment. “The CCTV footage has been given to the police,” said a manager who asked not to be named.