Yet another alleged custodial death in city PS

--DCP writes to SDJM for investigation

BHUBANESWAR: One Sanjay Das (32), who was caught by the Commissionerate Police in a theft case on the wee hours of Wednesday, died in a private hospital in city. The family members of the deceased alleged that he was tortured in the police custody, but the police denied the allegation.

After the incident, DCP Nitinjeet Singh has written a letter to the SDJM requesting magisterial probe into the matter. Another inspector would investigate into the case in stead of Mancheswar police to maintain objectivity, he added.

On the wee hours of Wednesday, after getting information from the public, the police rushed to the village under Mancheswar police station to rescue Das from the clutches of the mob that attacked Das for stealing a battery from a truck near the village. Three other persons ran away from the place except Das.

According to the police, they rushed to the place and rescued the man from the angry mob. Police brought Das to Capital Hospital for treatment as he had injury in his nail in the early morning. When the doctors said the policemen to take Das back, they brought him back to the police station. But after few hours, he felt pain in his chest and the policemen shifted him to a private hospital where he died.

“Around 11 am, I received a call from the Mancheswar police about my brother’s death. His condition was better when he was in the police station, but again what happened to him after few hours,” said Das’s elder brother Laxman Das, while victim’s father alleged that his son died due to police torture in the custody.

After the alleged custody death of Kuldeep Mohapatra in Saheed Nagar police station on June 5 and alleged assault charge against Julfikar Alli by Kharvelnagar police on June 28, this incident left the police in problem.