Bhopal police accused of custodial death; judicial probe ordered

Five cops including the police station in-charge suspended after public outcry

death Representative image | Shutterstock

The kin of a youth, who died after being detained by Bairagarh police of Bhopal in an accident case, have alleged custodial death after being beaten up by police in the wee hours of Wednesday.

The deceased, Shivam Mishra, is son of a policeman posted as clerk with the cyber cell of Madhya Pradesh Police.

The state government has ordered a judicial probe in to the matter after the demand by ex-chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The inspector general of police (IG) of Bhopal, Yogesh Deshmukh confirmed to THE WEEK that the police have requested for a judicial probe and process has been initiated.

Meanwhile, five cops including Bairagarh police station in-charge Ajay Mishra and sub-inspector Rajesh Tiwari were suspended in the matter. IG Deshmukh said cops in question have been suspended and further suitable action would be initiated after the probe report.

The family members and Govind Podel, friend of deceased Shubham who was accompanying him during the incident, have alleged that Shubham and Govind were beaten up badly by the cops after a Dial 100 vehicle took them to the Bairagarh police station after their four wheeler hit the railing of the BRTS corridor.

Govind said the cops had beaten them up at the police station, took them for medical test and brought them back to the police station and thrashed them again. Shubham allegedly succumbed to death at the police station itself. He also alleged that the cops looted a gold chain of Shivam. Govind himself got admitted at a private hospital, though with minor injuries.

Family members of the deceased have demanded an FIR against the involved cops and strict action against them. Things heated up at the Hamidia Hospital, where Shivam’s body was taken, after local MLA Rameshwar Sharma reached there to support the kin’s demands.

Later, former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan demanded judicial probe while accusing the cops of getting out of control. He said that he would have to take steps if such incidents continue. Home Minister Bala Bachchan ordered a judicial probe.

Meanwhile a CCTV footage, supposedly of the Bairagarh police station campus, was circulated in the media, where a man, purportedly Shivam, is seen collapsing while talking to a group of cops. The cops later take him to a vehicle.

Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime) Nishchal Jharia told THE WEEK that another youth had lodged a complaint against the deceased in the accident case as the broken railing of the BRTS corridor fell on the complainant’s car. The officer said that the complainant has said that the duo in the vehicle that hit the corridor were heavily drunk and abused everyone who tried to talk to them. “A case has been registered and probe is underway,” he said.

TAGS