Bhopal: A man died and his friend was critically injured allegedly after they were thrashed brutally by the Bhopal police for crashing their vehicle on a BRTS corridor.

The victims, identified as Shivam Mishra and Govind Sharma, were returning home after having dinner at a dhaba late on Tuesday night when their car collided with a BRTS corridor in the Bairagarh area.

The family claimed that Bairagarh police officials took the two men to the police station and beat them mercilessly. Later they were given some medication and treatment for their injuries and thrashed again, leading to Shivam’s death and severe injuries to Govind, the family alleged.

The victim’s family and friends kept his body outside the Hamidia hospital mortuary and staged a protest. They alleged that he was murdered and demanded that chief minister Kamal Nath visit the spot.

Ironically, several family members of the deceased man, including his father, are employed with the Madhya Pradesh police.

Shivam’s father, S Mishra, has been with the MP police for the past 36 years and is currently posted with the cyber cell. Speaking to News18, Mishra said he never imagined one day his colleagues would “kill” his own son. “The car was damaged but my son bore injury marks all over the body, which suggested that he was thrashed badly,” said Mishra, demanding that a murder case be registered against the guilty policemen.

Shivam’s mother named SHO Ajay Mishra and some constables responsible for the assault.

The Madhya Pradesh government has suspended SHO Ajay Mishra, SI Rajesh Tiwari and three constables in connection with this case. A special team has also been formed to probe Shivam’s death.

Shivam’s family members denied a post mortem of the body and alleged that the policemen snatched a gold chain from him. The deceased’s uncle Sanjay Bhargav said that the officials did not even inform the family about Shivam’s death and it was his friend who informed them.

However, superintendent of police (north) Shailendra Singh Chauhan, present at Hamidia hospital, claimed that the two men were taken to a hospital for medical check-up after the accident by police, and later to the police station where one of them complained of chest pain. Shivam died on the way to a nearby hospital, he said.

Leader of opposition in MP assembly, Gopal Bhargav, slammed the Kamal Nath government, saying there is complete breakdown of law and order under the Congress rule, and that he will raise this issue in the assembly’s Monsoon session. Home Minister Bala Bachchan also promised a thorough probe in the case.

(Inputs from Sharad Srivastava)