AGRA: Four days after a murder convict was shot dead by police to rescue 25 children, a man who tried to mediate during the nine-hour-long stand-off claimed on Tuesday that the abductor wanted punishment for two policemen who “tortured him” in custody in a theft case and sought “sexual favours” from his wife in lieu of his release.When contacted, senior district police officials rejected the charges, but assured a probe into the allegation and the role of the two policemen. Subhash Batham was shot dead on Friday while his wife died hours later on way to hospital after being attacked by locals in Farrukhabad ’s Kathariya village. Batham had organised a birthday party for his daughter and then held 25 children hostage on Thursday.On Tuesday, when TOI contacted Anupam Dubey alias Balloo, who was shot at by Batham while trying to negotiate peace, said: “During my interaction with Batham, he accused two Farrukhabad police constables of torturing him in custody. He also alleged that the policemen had also asked for sexual favours from his wife in lieu of his release in a theft case.”Dubey was approached by Bhojpur MLA Nagendra Singh to talk to Batham during the stand-off. “Everyone present there heard Batham but no one did anything. The entire drama was set up to attract administration’s attention to punish those two policemen,” said Dubey.Additional superintendent of police Tribhuwan Singh said, “Batham planned the entire situation for months to extort money. He demanded Rs 1 crore for each child taken hostage. He constructed a basement in his house months ago and also gathered explosives to target policemen.”