Agitated with the death of a Dalit youth in police custody at Dewa in Barabanki, protesters torched a police outpost and allegedly looted arms and ammunition. Agitators and cops clashed in which over two dozen people, including policemen were injured. The situation was brought under control only after the district magistrate along with district police chief reached the spot along with heavy police force. They had to lathicharge on the protesters and also fired in air to disperse the mob. Heavy police force is deployed in the area and the body of the victim has been sent for post-mortem.
A magisterial probe has been ordered into the incident. The injured were shifted to the Government hospital where conditions of two of the cops were reported to be ‘critical’. Four cops, including sub-inspectors Jai Prakash Yadav, Santosh Kumar Singh, head constable Ramraj, and constable Kamta Prasad, were also suspended.
Reports said that Subash Rajvanshi, a resident of Madiyaon area in lucknow, was picked up by the cops of Mati police outpost of Dewa Kotwali area in Barabanki, on Sunday evening. He was charged for his involvement in an auto-theft case and a motorcycle was also reportedly seized from his possession. The motorcycle belongs to one Siraj Ahmed, who had lodged a case claiming the vehicle was stolen by Rajvanshi.
According to sources, Rajvanshi was put inside the lock-up at the Dewa police station on Sunday night. However, the matter took an ugly turn when the body of Rajvanshi was found hanging from the ceiling of the toilet inside the police station campus. The cops on duty claimed that the victim committed suicide. However, the family members alleged that the cops had used third-degree torture on Rajvanshi and later hanged his body to make it look like a suicide.
Meanwhile, around 300 people attacked Mati police outpost on Monday morning. They targeted the police personnel, attacked them with sticks and rods besides looting weapon and cartridges. They later torched the police outpost along with half a dozen vehicles.
“Two policemen were brutally assaulted by the mob and have been referred to trauma centre at lucknow,” SP Abdul Hameed said. So far two persons have been arrested in the case. District Magistrate, Yogeshwar Ram Mishra, said action would be taken against the cops on basis of the enquiry. A case under Section 306 IPC for forcing the victim to commit suicide has been also registered against the cops.