A youth died after allegedly being bashed up badly in police custody at west Delhi’s Khyala police station. Two police officers were suspended immediately and a departmental enquiry was started against them, said a senior police officer.

The victim has been identified as Amit, 25, a resident of Raghubir Nagar at Khyala. He succumbed to injuries in Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital three days after he was allegedly brutally assaulted up by policemen.

On June 26, a local police officer got a call at 9 pm of some fighting going on in a house in which a youth was involved. Sub-inspector Anoop and constable Naveen Kumar went to the house and found that Amit was throwing household items and was fighting with his father, Tej Pal, and mother Sita Devi in an inebriated condition.

His mother told the two policemen that Amit came to house after getting drunk and started fighting with them, said a senior police officer.

Then the two policemen tried to convince Amit, but he was adamant and drunk.
Parents complain

On insistence of Amit’s parents, the cops brought him to the police station and allegedly bashed him up. When Amit fell on the ground and became unconscious, police rushed him to Guru Gobind Singh Hospital at Raghubir Nagar at 11.50 pm, where he was found unfit for statement.

Doctors said there was blood clot in his left nostril, and he also had head injuries. Since his condition was critical, they shifted him to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital on June 27, where he was in the intensive care unit for the past two days. He died on Sunday morning.

Protest against apathy

Police then informed his parents about the death. On hearing it, his parents and locals gathered outside the police station and protested for four hours, alleging that their son was killed in custody.

“They killed my son. They have beaten him with sticks and kicked him hard. How can he die when he was in police custody? They also knew that he was drunk. Instead of taking him to the police station, they should have admitted him in hospital first,” said Sita Devi.
Anoop and Naveen Kumar have been suspended and a departmental enquiry has been initiated against them.

A senior police officer said Amit had head injuries on June 26 and when he was at the police station, he had told the policemen that he fought with someone at 6.30 pm near his house.  On inquiring about the fight in the neighbourhood, police did not get any witness to the incident. The protesters dispersed and went to perform the last rites after senior police officers came to the police station and said that a fair enquiry would be conducted into his death.