Three policemen including incharge of Puranpur police station in Pilibhit have been placed under suspension after they were accused of third degree torture as a result of which two youths died in police custody. Both the youths were detained for supplying drugs on Wednesday night and were taken to District Hospital in the wee hours of Thursday where the doctors pronounced both brought dead.
Senior officers registered the case and placed the cops under suspension after the family members and local residents staged a huge blockade demanding action in the matter.
Reports said that two youths, identified as Saddam and Akeel, both residents of Puranpur area in Philibhit, were picked up by the local police in suspicion that they were supplying drugs. The family members alleged that the cops brutally assaulted the two and used third degree measures following which both succumbed to the excesses. The local police denied the allegations and claimed that when the condition of victims deteriorated they immediately rushed them to the hospital where they died. They also ruled out any torture of the victims. However, Dr Raj Kumar, who attended the duo in the hospital, confirmed that both the victims were already dead before they were brought to the hospital.
Meanwhile news of death of the two spread like wild fire and hundred of local residents along with family members ghearoed the police station and also staged a road blockade. later after two hours of protest, senior police officers rushed to the spot and announced suspension of the incharge or Puranpur police station, Shakti Singh and two other policemen. They also ordered a high level probe and assured the protesters that if charges of torture were proved in the post-mortem examination that criminal proceedings will be made against the accused cops. later the protest was called off and both the bodies were sent for post-mortem examination.