Police officers of Cooch Behar district in West Bengal killed a man, aged 42, while police custody at the station in Tufanganj leading to protests by family members and local police.
The dead one, who was identified as Noor Hossain Sheikh, was arrested along with the West Bengal Police and Border Security Force (BSF) in Balabhut area near the Kaljani River. In the process police seized eight cattle, which were being smuggled across Indo-Bangladesh border, they said.
Cooch Behar Superintendent of Police Jaspreet Singh said that Noor Hossain was discovered unconscious in the police lock-up on Wednesday morning. He was rushed to Tufanganj Sub-Divisional Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Police have registered a case of unnatural death and also opened an investigation under the orders of a magistrate to find out the fact and circumstances of a custodial death.
The official says the man was thought to have died from a stroke before the company’s investigation, and had hypertension. Further investigation will come with the exact cause of death verified, however.
The victim’s family and the local public protested the incident by blocking off Balabhut regional office demanding a fair and transparent investigation into the custodial killing.