Chhattisgarh: Man arrested in cheating case dies in police custody; family alleges assault by cops

Dhamtari: A 41-year-old man died in police custody within hours of his arrest in a cheating case in Chhattisgarh's Dhamtari district with his family alleging that policemen had assaulted him.

The station house officer (SHO) of Arjuni police station, where the deceased, Durgesh Katholia, was kept in police remand, has been suspended, police said.

The main opposition Congress has demanded a judicial probe into the incident.

Police on Monday arrested Katholia, a resident of Bhawarmara village in neighbouring Rajnandgaon district, from his native district and brought him to Dhamtari, an official said.

On Monday evening, he was produced in a local court, which sent him to police custody. He was brought to Arjuni police station, he said.

The official said Katholia's condition deteriorated, and he was rushed to the district hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

"The exact cause of the death is yet to be ascertained as the post-mortem report is awaited. However, prima facie, it seems he died of a heart attack," he said.

"A case has been registered and an inquiry has been ordered into the incident. Sunny Dubey, the SHO of Arjuni police station, has been suspended," he said.

According to police, around 50 farmers of Dhamtari district had lodged a complaint against Katholia, alleging that he had procured paddy from them, promising to provide higher returns than the rate fixed by the government, but had not paid them after collecting the produce and had escaped.

Farmers alleged that Katholia had duped them of more than Rs 7 crore, the official said.

He said the complainants also claimed that Katholia had committed similar offences in Balod, Rajnandgaon, Gariaband and Balaghat districts, and a case was registered against him at Basantpur police station of Rajnandgaon.

Katholia's family members staged a protest outside the district hospital, where the body was kept and alleged that he had died due to police torture.

"The police did not provide any information about his arrest or producing him in court. He died because he was beaten up by the police. He would have been punished (as per the law) if he had done something wrong. Police don't have the right to kill him," Katholia's wife, Durga Devi, said, demanding justice.

The deceased man's father, Laxman Katholia, said his son was dealing in paddy procurement from farmers.

"Police arrested my son from Durg and brought him to his house in Rajnandgaon on Monday. They searched my entire house and found nothing. Police assaulted my son with an iron chain in front of family members and didn't allow him to drink water. If they beat my son in front of us, how could they have not assaulted him at the police station?" he said.

Leaders and workers of the opposition Congress also joined the Katholia family in their protest outside the district hospital.

The State Congress's communication wing chief, Sushil Anand Shukla, alleged that the law and order situation has gone out of hand and police have become murderers.

"A man from Rajnandgaon died due to police torture at a police station in Dhamtari. It is an unfortunate incident," Shukla said.

He demanded a judicial probe into the incident.