Director General of Police (DGP) DK Pandey on Saturday ordered a probe by the CID into the death of a tribal boy Rupesh Swansi in police custody even as the family members and villagers blocked the Ranchi-Jamshedpur NH-33 at Bundu for hours, some 40 kms away from here, demanding justice in the case.
They accused police officers of murdering ‘innocent’ Rupesh in custody. The gathering dispersed only after the police applied mild muscle power and tossed some tear gas capsules over the crowd in the presence of the DIG and the SSP.
Though Pandey assured them of fair investigation into the case and dispensation of justice to family members as soon as possible, family members appeared anything but satisfied with the offering of the administration and their modus operandi in the case so far.
The CID has been asked to go for a thorough investigation into the case and to reach out exact happenings under guidelines of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
At the same time, Ranchi DIG RK Dhan has been asked to conduct an administrative enquiry which will primarily run around modus operandi of the police personnel involved in the case.
Former CM Arjun Munda has also called it a ‘shocking news’ and has hoped for timely justice to the family.
Rupesh Swansi’s death case has come as a grave embarrassment for the State administration, which is already hiding its face from around a dozen of cases of police torture and harassment of ‘innocent citizens’ this year itself.
Swansi, a resident of Adarsh Nagar of Bundu was picked up by police from a cloth showroom where he was working on Thursday evening.
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CID to probe tribal boy’s custodial death
Police claimed that they got a tip off about Rupesh that he was assisting naxalites as a supplier of arms, and was also carrying two pistols and Rs. 12,000 at the time he was picked up.
According to family members, the whole story of Rupesh being an aid of naxalites has been fabricated by the police. They claimed that the deceased was a humble guy, who was a sincere bread earner of family. Incidentally, Police has also kept mum on the age of Rupesh, who has been said to be a minor at the time of custody.
Meanwhile, Jharkhand State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (JSCPCR) Chairperson Aarti Kujur has said that the Commission would make a visit to Bundu to meet family members of Rupesh Swansi on Sunday, who died at wee hours on Friday under mysterious circumstances in Police custody.