An RTO inspector falsely accused of crashing his car into an autorickshaw in a drunken stupor died of a cardiac arrest on Friday.

Colleagues of K Manjunath, RTO inspector at the Chandapura RTO, blamed the viral videos that falsely accused him of drunk-driving for his sudden death.

The police said Manjunath (52) had cut short his medical leave by 15 days and was returning to work on Thursday morning when he felt his blood pressure lowering and lost control of his car. The car veered and crashed into a parked autorickshaw and injured the driver, Imran Pasha.

Angry auto drivers who gathered at the spot heckled Manjunath and accused him of drunk-driving.

They held a spontaneous protest, blocking traffic on the busy Hosur Road.

The protesting drivers refused to believe the police, who rushed to the spot and tested Manjunath with a breathalyser only to confirm that he was not drunk.

The police then took Manjunath to St John’s Hospital to collect his blood sample and ruled out the presence of alcohol in his blood. They confirmed that Manjunath was actually having medication for diabetes and hypotension.

Officer was on leave

A senior police official said Manjunath was on a month-long leave due to his medical condition. The RTO inspector had also agreed to bear the medical expenses of Pasha, who had suffered injuries to his hand.

But videos taken during the auto drivers’ protest went viral with the false accusation that Manjunath caused the accident by driving his car in an inebriated condition.

The RTO inspector learnt about the videos and suffered further health complications. He was then admitted to a private hospital in Jayanagar, where he died of a cardiac

arrest.