55-year-old dies in police custody in Sant Kabir Nagar, SHO suspended

GORAKHPUR: A 55-year-old man of Shiv Bakhri village under Bakhira police station jurisdiction in Sant Kabir Nagar district in UP, who was picked up by the police on July 24 in connection with a case against his son and kept in lock-up for several days, died at the district hospital on Tuesday night.
After his family alleged his being beaten by the police for three days following which he was admitted to the hospital when his condition deteriorated, Sant Kabir Nagar superintendent of police (SP) suspended Bakhira station house officer.
Senior administrative and police officials reached the hospital where the family members were staging a sit-in and assured them of stringent action against the guilty after they received the postmortem report.
On July 21, Ashok Kumar, son of the victim Bahraichi Prasad, had allegedly eloped with a girl of his village.
The girl’s family filed a police complaint against him but a case was not registered.
However, for recovery of the girl, police picked up Ashok’s father Bahraichi on July 24 and kept him in the lock-up.
Reports said the victim’s family accused police of beating him in the name of interrogation and on Tuesday night, when his condition turned serious, they took him to the hospital where he died.
Following his death, the police ran away from the hospital leaving his body behind.
Sant Kabir Nagar SP Kaustubh on Wednesday said, “A panel of doctors has been set up to conduct Bahraichi Prasad’s postmortem. Required action will be taken after we receive its report.”
“However, Bakhira SHO Manoj Kumar Singh has been suspended. In his place, Kante police post in charge Chandan Kumar has been sent to Bakhira police station as in-charge,” he added.