Police have arrested five African nationals and slapped them with charges ranging from rioting to outraging the modesty of a woman officer a day after a protest over the alleged custodial death of a Congolese national in the city.

While the police said Joel Malu, 27, died after a cardiac arrest at a private hospital early on Monday, hours after he was taken into custody for possessing drugs, the African community was outraged.

Bangalore North deputy commission of police Dharmender Kumar Meena told The Telegraph on Tuesday that the five men were booked several sections including IPC Sections 146 (rioting), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging his duty), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to a public servant) and 354 (outraging the modesty of a woman).

The arrested men were among the 20-odd African nationals who protested against the alleged custodial death of Malu outside JC Nagar police station where he was taken.

The Bangalore unit of the Pan-African Federation and Students’ Union India, a body of African nationals, on Tuesday decided to extend all cooperation to the police in the investigation but resolved to fight for their rights to live peacefully in the city.

On the allegation of custodial death, Kumar said: “The inquest conducted by a judicial magistrate has established there was not a single mark on his body.”

A resident of east Bangalore, Malu was taken to the police station around 2.15am on Monday. He was shifted to a hospital around 5.30am.

“We found 5 grams of MDMA (popularly called ecstasy) on him and that was why he was arrested,” said Kumar.