Police ‘beat’ man to death during lockdown watch

RANCHI: A 50-year-old man, who was out while lockdown was in place along with his wife and younger brother, died allegedly after police thrashed him on Thursday evening. The wife of the deceased lodged a complaint in this regard with Chouparan police station on Friday.

The deceased was identified as Chakkan Bhuinyan, a resident of Machla village in Hazaribag district. According to his wife Babita Devi, she, along with his husband and brother in-law Shankar Bhuiyan, was going to attend a wedding on Thursday around 5.30pm when the incident took place.

“On our way at Karma village (around 1km from Machla village), a patrolling police vehicle came and stopped in front of our bike. On enquiry, we told them that we were going to attend a wedding ceremony, but they started beating my husband with sticks. He died on the spot,” Devi alleged.

Corroborating Devi’s claims, mukhiya of Karma village, Rajdev Yadav, said, “The incident took place near my residence. Babita and Shankar protested, but the police beat them also.

After the brutal thrashing, police left Bhuiyan on the street. We took him to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead.”

Meanwhile, Barhi DSP Nazir Akhtar visited Karma village on Friday and interrogated locals. He said, “Body of the deceased has been sent to Hazaribagh for postmortem examination. We are investigating the matter. Anything conclusive can be said after investigation is completed. Action will be taken if anyone is found guilty in the incident.”

Police were patrolling to ensure no shops were open after the given time limit during the ongoing Swasthya Suraksha Saptah, the DSP said, adding, “In light of the lockdown, shops are not allowed to open after 2pm.”

Yadav said, “Irate villagers put up a road blockade Thursday night, demanding action against the police personnel involved in the incident. We have also demanded compensation and job to Bhuiyan’s wife. Bhuiyan, a daily wage worker, was the sole bread earner of the family.”

The state government recently on Wednesday extended the previous weeklong lockdown till May 6 with few more restrictions in a bid to break the chain of Covid-19 infection in the state.