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 night.
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 brutally assaulted Manish and also attacked them.
When the cops left, the friends somehow took Manish to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The news of the death of Manish due to alleged police excesses led to protest on Tuesday morning after which the SHO of Ramgarhtal, Jagat Narain Singh, incharge of Phalmandi police outpost and four other policemen were suspended.
The SSP of Gorakhpur reached the spot and asked SP (North) to probe the matter. He claimed that the post-mortem would be conducted by a panel of doctors and further action would be taken on the basis of the report.
Meanwhile, Manish’s wife Meenakshi, who reached Gorakhpur along with her family members, put three demands before the senior officers which included suspension and action against the accused policemen, in-depth probe into the incident and compensation so that she could look after her 4-year-old son as the lone earning member was “killed” by the cops.
Manish was married to Meenakshi five years back and they had one son. Manish's father also expired a few months back.