The family members of a youth who allegedly died in police custody in Sitapur, accused the cops of using third degree on the victim resulting in his death.
The family members demanded stern action against the accused policemen besides registering a case in the matter. The police, however, denied use of force on the youth and said that he died as he was already ill.
The body of the youth was sent for autopsy and the local officers claimed that it would be done by a panel of doctors.
The incident took place in the Pisawan police station area of Sitapur on Wednesday.
Ramlotan's son Vedanath, 40, a resident of Jiginiya village in Sitapur, was the sector in-charge of Bahujan Samaj Party. Ramlotan's body was found outside the village on Tuesday. The blood-soaked body was found in the morning with marks of serious injuries. The relatives filed a complaint in which they expressed suspicion of murder and named six people of the village.
On Wednesday, to get some clues, the cops picked up Raju's son Jawahar and brought him to the police station for questioning. Raju's health suddenly deteriorated late at night. According to the police, they along with a watchman Santram Pisawan took the victim to the community health centre, where the doctors referred him to the district hospital after finding his condition to be critical.
The doctors at the district hospital, however, pronounced the victim dead upon arrival. The cops claimed that the victim died due to illness.
Meanwhile the family members said that Raju was taken away by the policemen in their jeep and he was thrashed by the cops due to which he died.
Senior officers claimed that they were waiting for the post-mortem report and action would be taken if the autopsy report confirmed use of third degree.