‘Custody killing’ case: Puri Police deny keeping kin away from funeral

BHUBANESWAR: Amid allegations by relatives of K Ramesh, who allegedly died in police custody in Puri district, that they were not allowed to attend the cremation, police have released two video clips showing the deceased man’s father and uncle at his funeral.
“The body of Ramesh was cremated at #Puri swargadwar by his family members such as his father K. Gurumurthy, uncle K.Arya and others after PM (postmortem) examination at headquarters hospital,” tweeted the official handle of Puri SP (@SPPuri1), attaching video clips purportedly of the cremation.
The police, however, were silent on that allegation of the relatives that Ramesh’s father and uncle were also picked up and detained.
Meanwhile, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra, who unsuccessfully fought the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Puri, led a padayatra from Gundicha temple to the Puri collector’s office in protest against the alleged custodial killing. He also met the family of the deceased.
Patra sought the registration of a murder case relating to Ramesh’s death and Rs 1 crore as compensation for his kin. “The 30-year-old youth was picked up from his house at midnight. He has been murdered. The cops who did it must be booked under IPC Section 302. Shifting and suspending officials will not give justice to the deceased and his family,” Patra said.
As reported earlier, Ramesh had been arrested by Baselisahi police on Wednesday from Mangalaghat. Police said he suffered injuries in a scuffle with the cops and was taken to the Puri district headquarters hospital (DHH), where he was declared dead.
In another development, police have ordered an inquiry by DIG (Central Range), Cuttack, into the alleged assault of some persons in Pipili police station on Thursday.