The Uttar Pradesh Police filed a FIR against unidentified police officers in connection with the death of a 22-year-old Muslim man inside Kasganj police station on Saturday, according to the Hindustan Times.
The case was filed after the deceased Altaf’s father, Chand Miyan, filed a complaint that his son was killed in police custody.
Last week, after Altaf was accused of kidnapping a Hindu woman, he was taken to the Kasganj police station for questioning. On Tuesday evening, he was found dead inside the washroom of the police station.
While the police claimed that he had hanged himself from a tap in the washroom using the drawstring of his jacket’s hood, Altaf’s family members has alleged that he was murdered in custody.
The FIR filed said that Chand Miyan has contested the police claim, saying that a five-foot-tall man could not hang himself from a two-foot-high water tap.
Chand Miyan had said on Thursday that he was forced to sign a letter, and it’s contents were unknown to him, by the police.
Miyan, in his purported letter absolved the Kasganj Police of any blame for his son’s death. The letter also stated that Altaf was depressed.
According to The Hindu’s report on Sunday, Chand Miyan said that someone from the woman’s family had allegedly threatened to sever the 22-year-old’s head.
“When I reached the police chowki [station], I could sense that my son was being tortured but I was sent back by the police. When we received the body, it had swelling on the feet, apart from a mark on the neck,” he told the newspaper.
Kasganj Superintendent of Police Rohan Pramod Botre said that a case under Section of the Indian Penal Code 302 (punishment for murder) had been registered against unidentified policemen, as per the Hindustan Times.
He said, “Besides this, the woman who was allegedly kidnapped by the deceased Altaf and his friend was recovered on Friday evening. Her statement is to be recorded in court on Sunday.”
Meanwhile, on Wednesday the police had said that five officials had been suspended for negligence of duty. The National Commission for Minorities on Friday sought a report within 15 days from UP’s director general of police and chief secretary on the custodial death.
