LUCKNOW: Raju Kumar, 45, who was named as an accused in an FIR lodged in Sitapur's Pisawan police station in connection with the murder of BSP worker Ram Lotan, died in police custody hours after he was picked up by the police in the district's Jignia village late on Wednesday.
While police quoting doctors at a government hospital claimed that Raju died of cardiac arrest while being brought to the police station, his family alleged that Raju died due to police torture.
The body was sent for autopsy. Local BSP worker Ram Lotan, 58, was found dead at his house close to Jignia village on Tuesday. The FIR lodged by his kin had named Raju and five others as accused in the case.
Raju and Lotan were residents of two neighbouring villages and had property-related disputes between them for years.
Sitapur superintendent of police Ghule Sushil Chandrabhan told TOI that the post-mortem report conducted by a panel revealed shock and cardiac arrest as the cause of Raju Kumar’s death. “The doctors have ruled out any external injury on the body and his heart has been preserved for further examination,” said Ghule.
The SP further said that the father of the deceased, Hardayal, was with the police team which picked up Raju. “Before reaching Pisawan police station, under whose jurisdiction Jignia village falls, Raju began complaining of chest pain. So the team took him to a CHC first and the doctors there referred him to the district hospital. But when Raju reached there, he was declared dead,” the SP said.
"We formed a panel of doctors and informed a magistrate about it,” he added. The SP said that he has not got any complaint from the family against police atrocity or torture.
Locals alleged that the police had picked up Raju Kumar at 5.30 pm on Wednesday from his house while he was declared brought dead around 11.30 pm at the Sitapur district hospital. They alleged that a police force of seven police stations was deployed outside the Jigania village, so that nobody could venture inside.
Raju’s mother Kanti Devi alleged police brutally while his nephew Rohit said the cops "killed him in cold blood".
