Khandwa: The police in Madhya Pradesh state have dismissed four officers at a police station in the town of Pandhana in Khandwa district after a 32-year-old tribal man arrested for alleged motorcycle theft died in custody in what was ruled as a suicide. The event, which happened late on Friday night, continues to cause fury and prompt demands for justice from the side of the representatives of the tribal population and the man’s relatives.
It has been reported by Siddharth Bahuguna, DIG, Khandwa, that Pandhana police picked the man up on Friday on a charge of motorcycle theft. He was locked in the cell where, as reported by the police, he tied a piece of a torn blanket around the window rod and hanged himself with it. The police got to the scene to find him already dead and took the body to the hospital, where he was declared dead.
In connection with the incident, Pandhana town Inspector Vikas Khinchi, Sub-Inspector Himal Damor, and police constables Narayan & Anil have been suspended, awaiting the Judicial Magistrate’s inquiry. The purpose of such an investigation is to find out how the man died and whether the police officers are to blame for misconduct in that process.
The police said that the man admitted to having stolen 18 motorcycles, and three bikes were recovered from him. However, the family of the deceased has accused the police of brutality; they have said that he was tortured to extract a confession from him while he was in custody. The man’s wife has claimed that she witnessed police killing her husband and then orchestrating that the death be faked suicide. She has even demanded that the First Information Report (FIR) against the officers to be lodged.
The occurrence has raised tensions in the area; many persons, including the tribal activists, stormed the hospital where the incident was said to have occurred. Jai Tantya Bhil Tribal Youth Organisation has called for an impartial investigation of the case as well.
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