Lucknow Custodial Death Row: FIR Registered Against Suspended Chinhat Police Station SHO

Lucknow: After a massive protest by the family of a 30-year-old man, who died in police custody in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow after he was allegedly beaten to death by the policemen, the UP police on Sunday registered an FIR on charges of murder and criminal conspiracy against the SHO of the Chinhat police station and others. A senior police official on Sunday confirmed that the police inspector, who was posted as the SHO of the Chinhat Police Station was suspended with immediate effect earlier after the serious charges following custodial death. 

An official statement stated that Inspector Ashwani Chaturvedi, Station House Officer at the Chinhat police station, was suspended with immediate effect "in view of the allegations levelled" and the case registered against him.

The incident evoked a strong reaction from the opposition parties, with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi slamming the UP government and the state police. Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati too condemned the incident and said that the government must take effective steps to provide justice to the victim's family.

A resident of Jainabad in the Chinhat area here, Mohit Kumar was arrested in connection with a case on Saturday. He died at a hospital while in custody following which his family members alleged police brutality as the cause of his death, police said.

Taking note of the complaint lodged by the victim's mother, an FIR under sections 103 (1) (Punishment for murder) and 61 (2) (criminal conspiracy) of the BNS has been registered against Chaturvedi and others including some unidentified persons, Additional Commissioner of Police Vibhuti Khand Radha Ram Singh told reporters on Sunday.

A detailed probe is on into the matter, he said.

The exact cause of death will be ascertained after the post-mortem which will be videographed, the officer added.

A CCTV clip went viral on social media purportedly showing the victim lying in the lockup. The family members of the deceased accused the police of deliberately leaking only a small portion of the footage to save their back, claiming that Kumar was beaten to death by the cops.

According to the police, Kumar was rushed to a community health centre after he became unwell at the police station. From there he was referred to a bigger facility where he died, they said.

However, Shobharam, the victim's brother who claimed he was also taken into custody before being released later, alleged that the police mercilessly thrashed Kumar in front of him and sent him to the hospital only after he died.

Meanwhile, in a statement, the Police Commissionerate, Lucknow informed that "Bharat Kumar has been shifted from Ghazipur police station, and made the SHO of Chinhat police station." The Lucknow Police in a statement also said that "in view of the allegations levelled and cases registered against him, the SHO has been suspended with immediate effect." "The matter has been handed over to SHO Gomtinagar Vistar for investigation," the statement said.

Earlier, a 24-year-old man died in police custody after being arrested during a raid on a gambling den in Lucknow.

While Aman Gautam's family had accused the cops of beating him to death, police denied the allegations.

According to officials, a team of police personnel conducted a raid on Ambedkar Park in Sector 8 of Vikasnagar on October 11 night following reports of gambling activities.

"Two individuals, including Aman Gautam (24), were apprehended and taken into custody," Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) Jitendra Kumar Dubey had said on October 12.

"While being transported to the police station, Aman's condition deteriorated, and he was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival," the officer added.

Aman died due to police beatings, his family has alleged.