Man dies in police custody, seven cops suspended

A 40-year-old man, who was arrested in a vehicle theft case, died in police custody here on Saturday with his kin alleging that excessive police torture led to his death.

Seven police personnel have been suspended in connection with the case. According to the police, Shakeel, a resident of Dasna village, was arrested in a vehicle theft case on Friday evening and was being taken to Farrukhabad by a police team.

Shakeel was allegedly involved in several cases of auto theft, they said.
“We are investigating the case. Police officials who arrested Shakeel told us that when he was being taken to Farrukhabad for the recovery of stolen vehicles, he developed a heart problem. Shakeel was rushed to GTB Hospital where he was declared dead,” said superintendent of police (city) Shiv Shankar Yadav, who has been appointed to probe the alleged custodial death.

“We are awaiting the report of post-mortem to ascertain the cause of death,” he said.
Senior superintendent of police has suspended Kavi Nagar station officer Sudhir Tyagi and constables Ghoom Singh, Mangat Tyagi, Jitender, Ravinder, Irfan and Rajkumar. An FIR has been lodged under sections of IPC for murder, he added.

On the other hand, the victim’s family members have alleged that Shakeel was not a heart patient and he died due to police torture.