Accused dies in police custody

An accused who was arrested on Thursday in a bomb hurling case, died on Saturdaynight while in police custody at the Dharmasala police station of Jajpur district.

The police on Thursday night arrested a 32-year-old accused Gayadhar Tarei from his house at Paga under the Jagatpur police station for his alleged involvement in a bomb hurling case in the house of a contractor at Dharmasala in June 2017.

The deceased’s relatives alleged that the police tortured him physically while he was detained in the police lockup at Dharmasala for three days.

“The accused should have been presented before the court within 24 hours of his arrest. But he was in illegal police custody three   days after his arrest. My brother was   thrashed in the guise of interrogation for which he succumbed to serious injuries in the police station.  

later police dumped the body in the Community Health Center at Dharmasala,” alleged the deceased’s elder brother Rabindra.

When contacted, Dharamsala Medical Officer Dr Chintamani Mishra said, “Police on Saturdayadmitted   the man in the hospital where he was declared brought dead. Preliminary investigation revealed that the deceased was tortured to death as the body is replete with serious injury marks.”

Jajpur Superintendent of Police Charan Singh Mina said, “It is illegal on the part of the police to keep the accused more than 24 hours in the police station. We are investigating the case as per the guidelines of National Human Right Commission. The deceased was a notorious criminal. He was involved in many crimes in the district and its nearby areas. Two months back, he was released from the jail on bail. He suffered heart attack when he was in police custody for which we rushed him the hospital at Dharmasala where he died on Saturday night.”