india

Updated: Oct 30, 2019 02:53 IST

A first information report (FIR) has been registered against unidentified police personnel after a 45-year-old man died in police custody in Amethi on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.

The family of Prakash Shukla alias Sajan Shukla, who was detained by the police in connection with a cash van loot case, alleged he died because of police torture. They along with locals on Tuesday staged a protest demanding registration of an FIR against police personnel.

Shukla was allegedly involved in the loot of Rs 26 lakh from bank employees when the money was being transferred to a UCO Bank branch in a cash van on October 5, the police said.

The police also claimed they had sufficient evidence to question him further, but family members alleged Shukla was interrogated twice earlier in the same case and was released due to lack of evidence against him. An FIR of murder has been registered against unidentified police personnel at City Kotwali of Sultanpur district.

Shukla’s brother, Om Prakash, claimed the police personnel of Amethi’s Peeparpur police station barged into their house in Pratapgarh’s Antu area around 3 am on Tuesday.

He said the police personnel took along his brother Sajan Shukla and his two sons Rahul and Sahil forcibly without giving any reasons to the family. He said he and his family were later informed that he was tortured by police personnel following, which he died. Shukla’s two sons told that their father was tortured and forced to admit to his involvement in the cash loot case, Om Prakash claimed.

Refuting the allegations, superintendent of police (SP), Amethi, Khyati Garg, said it was not a case of police torture but Shukla had apparently consumed poisonous substances following which his health deteriorated. The SP said the police team first got him admitted to a nearby community health centre and later shifted to Sultanpur district hospital where he died.

“We had sufficient ground for Shukla’s detention and interrogation as he was suspected of tipping off his other accomplices about the cash movement. Moreover, he had a criminal background. He was also associated with dreaded criminal Zakir Ali alias Guddu,” Garg said. She said the postmortem examination of Shukla’s body was conducted and further course of action will be initiated as per its findings.

SP Sultanpur Himanshu Kumar said the FIR was registered on the complaint of Shukla’s brother as the family were not allowing to carry out the post-mortem examination and other legal proceedings. “Initially, no external injury was spotted on the deceased’s body while the details of internal injury, if any, will be revealed only after the post-mortem examination,” he added.

He said the FIR is registered under Indian Penal Code sections 302 (murder), 392 (loot), 342 (criminal house trespass with intention to hurt) and 504 (insult with intent to provoke breach of peace). Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav has demanded a thorough investigation in the case.