Alleged police brutality in Gorakhpur led to the death of a 36-year-old trader from Gorakhpur. The victim was allegedly thrashed by the police after he questioned the cops for checking his hotel room late on Monday. The cops, however, claimed that they used no force and that the youth was drunk and he died after he fell on the floor.
Later, after the local residents staged a demonstration, Senior Superintendent of Police of Gorakhpur, Vipin Tanda, suspended half-a-dozen policemen, including the local station house officer (SHO). Reports said that Manish Gupta (36), a businessman hailing from Barra locality of Kanpur, reached Gorakhpur on Monday along with his two friends, Pradeep Singh and Hariveer Singh, to visit the zoo and also for darshan at Gorakhnath Math. They checked into in a hotel on Taramandal Road in Ramgarhtal area of Gorakhpur. Their close friend Chandan Saini also lives in Sikriganj area of the district.
Reports said that around midnight on Monday, a police team led by local SHO reached the hotel and barged into the room of these traders and asked them to show their identity cards and give the reason for staying in Gorakhpur. The situation took an ugly turn when Manish questioned the policemen for disturbing them in late hours, saying that they were not terrorists. His friends claimed that on this, the cops assaulted Manish. When the cops left, the friends took Manish to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Once the incident came to light the SHO of Ramgarhtal, Jagat Narain Singh, and four other cops were suspended.