A 21-year-old Muslim man Altaf accused of kidnapping a Hindu woman died in police custody in Uttar Pradesh’s Kasganj district on Tuesday. The father of the deceased alleged the police of foul play in his son’s death.
Altaf’s father Caahat Miyan told the media,” I myself handed my son to the police at 8am on Monday. I subsequently went to the police station to get more details and a copy of the first information report. But the police misbehaved and warned me not to come to the station again.”
“On Tuesday evening, I got information from local reporters that my son had died inside [the police station. By the time I reached the station again, he was taken to a local hospital. Doctors there declared him dead. My son was innocent, he had no criminal past,” Miyan said, according to The Times of India.
Meanwhile, the police claimed that Altaf, hanged himself in a police station washroom with the drawstring of his jacket hood. But the Muslim man’s family has alleged that he was murdered in custody.
On Tuesday, family members of the deceased have claimed that he was not produced before a magistrate.
Altaf was called to the police station early on Tuesday and not Monday evening, claimed Kasganj Superintendent of Police Botre Rohan Pramod.
“During the interrogation, he sought permission to go to the washroom. He was sent to the washroom inside the lock-up. There, he sought to strangle himself by tying the string of the hood of his jacket to a tap,” Pramod said.
The police official further claimed that the police found him in an unconscious state, and took him to a community health centre at Ashok Nagar and Altaf died after 5 to 10 minutes of treatment.
Times of India reported that here are no other injury marks on Altaf’s body apart from ligature mark around his neck, according to the post-mortem report.
Five police officials have been suspended for negligence of duty, Pramod said adding, “The lax policemen will be punished,” according to PTI.
