Police brutality led to death a rice mill owner who was alleged to be battered by over half a dozen policemen including two sub-inspectors in Rampur in the wee hours of Sunday. The cops said to have raided the premises over suspicion of gambling during which the man died.
Taking a prompt action following a demonstration by the local residents, district police chief of Rampur, get a case of murder registered against the police team, sent them to Reserve Police lines and assured that if post-mortem examination report confirmed of excesses, then the guilty policemen will be sent to jail, A magisterial probe has been also ordered by the district magistrate.
According to SI Rehmat Ali and Bovinder Kumar, posted at Kemri police station, they conducted raid at a locality after learning that some persons were gambling in a public place in the wee hours of Sunday. They said that the accused involved in gambling escaped after seeing the police team but still they nabbed two of them and recovered Rs 6190 from their possession. The held accused were identified as Taufiq Ahmed and Abrar Ahmed, both residents of Kaimiri in Rampur.
However, the situation took an ugly turn when one Jalal Ahmad aka laddan (45), a rice mill owner was killed during the raid. His family members and local residents who staged a demonstration on Sunday morning claimed that the police personnel, which included SI Rehmat Ali and Bovinder Kumar, along with constables Vishesh Kumar, Sachin Kumar, Rajveer Singh, Satraz, Maroof Ali, Cheema, had brutally assaulted the victim with rifle buts following which he died. They alleged that the police demanded Rs 1 lakh but when Jalal refused, they attacked him with their rifle. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. Senior officers who reached the spot and get the protest called off had get a case registered in the matter against above policemen at the Kemri police station. As tensions prevailed, authorities deployed a large contingent of police personnel to bring the situation under control.