Two cops sacked, 6 hurt in violence after lock-up death

PATNA: At least five policemen and a senior official were injured in Jehanabad district on Thursday when a mob protesting against the death of a theft suspect in lock-up attacked the local police station and vandalised police vehicles, the district police chief said, adding that they had to fire in air to control the situation.

The police officer on duty at Ghonsi police station and a police chowkidar have been suspended, Jehanabad’s superintendent of police Deepak Ranjan said, without taking their names.

The deceased was identified as Grijesh Kumar Yadav, 25, a resident of Lakhawar, who was taken into custody on Wednesday night in a theft case and kept in the lock-up at Ghonsi police station.

Around 9 am on Thursday, Yadav allegedly hanged himself with a wire of mobile charger tied around the bars of the toilet adjacent to lock-up. He was rushed to Sadar Hospital but was declared brought dead by the doctors, the officer said.

Family members of the deceased alleged the police had thrashed him inside the lock-up. Police, however, rejected the allegations and said the man was earlier jailed in a case related to motorcycle theft and was detained this time for questioning in another case.

After the news of his Yadav’s broke, locals surrounded the police station and pelted stones, in which five policemen and subdivisional officer Nikhil Dhanraj were injured.

The agitators later blocked Jehanabad-Patna-Gaya National Highway and disrupted vehicular traffic for more than three hours. They were demanding that the policemen responsible be booked for murder whereas the police had lodged a case of abetment of suicide.

SP Deepak Ranjan said the chief judicial magistrate had been informed regarding the incident and proceedings were being carried out as per law. “CCTV footage has also been preserved to facilitate the inquiry,” he said. An autopsy has been conducted at Sadar Hospital but the report was awaited, he said.