Tension gripped Bisada village of Dadri on Wednesday after Ravi Sisodia — one of the 15 accused — arrested last year for the lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq over alleged rumours that his family consumed beef, died at a hospital in Delhi on Tuesday while in judicial custody.
As the news of his death spread, tension gripped the village. Some villagers protested accusing district jail authority that 22-year-old Ravi lodged in luksar jail was beaten to death. Bisada residents even refused to perform his last rites till those guilty are punished. The body was not brought to the village till Wednesday late evening.
The district administration has invoked section 144 in the area and heavy police deployment was made in the loclaity since Tuesday night.
The victim's family, along with hundreds of residents, held a panchyat in the village and demanded action against the jailer Ml Yadav and `1 crore compensation to the victim's family. Villagers also burned egiffy of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minster Akhilseh Yadav and raised slogans against him.
Ravi's mother Nirmala alleged that her son was murdered. "Ravi's health was fine last month,” she said, adding that he was beaten up by prisoners inside the jail resulting which he sustained deep wound in the stomach and that led to grave damage to his kidneys. However, the district jail authority and the Dadri police have denied such allegations.
Also, angry villagers demanded the arrest of Jan Mohammad, young brother of Akhlaq, for allegedly slaughtering cow.
Sanjay Rana, the local BJP leader whose son Vishal Rana is also an accused in this case was livid. "This is a custodial death and there was foul play on part of the jail administration. We demand a probe by the CBI," Rana said.
In a related development, Ram Sharan, the lawyer of the accused filed the application in the district court to allow all the accused persons lodged in the jail to attend Ravi's last rites but the court rejected
his plea.
Jailer Yadav said Ravi had complained of stomach ache on September 29 and he was admitted to the district hospital. “Ravi's ultrasound report showed that there was water in his lungs," Yadav said. He denied any torture to the undertrial.
Doctors who treated the Dadri lynching accused said there was no injury on Ravi's body. He was suffering from respiratory problems and also had high fever, he said. "The cause of death will be known only after the post-mortem examination report is available to us. The preliminary symptoms are that he died of vector borne disease. It could be either chikungunya or dengue", a doctor told The Pioneer on the condition of anonymity".
“The patient was brought to the hospital at around 10 am on Tuesday. We tried to treat him as he was found to be suffering from renal failure and serious and respiratory issues. He was afflicted with diabetes too and that complicated his health condition,” the doctor said.
Taking cognisance of the death of the inmate, the Uttar Pradesh Government on Wednesday ordered two enquiries, one a magisterial probe and another by the Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Sadar, under Section 176 (1) of the CrPC. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) also issued notices to the Uttar Pradesh Government, Director General of Prisons and the Director General of Police, over the incident, seeking report within four weeks.