NEW DELHI: A 52-year-old auto-rickshaw driver died in police custody on Sunday at the Lodhi Colony police station. An assistant sub-inspector, Vijay, and two constables, Rajender and Sandeep, were suspended in the matter.
Victim Dharambir, a resident of Najafgarh, was had been called to the police station after the police learnt that the accused who stole the car from Block no. 23 in Lodhi Colony had come in an auto-rickshaw that belonged to him.
“Dharmabir was asked to join the investigation and based on his disclosure, the police arrested Satish, who was driving the auto at the time of the incident, and Ghewar Ram Chowdhary,” said DCP (South), Atul Kumar Thakur.
The role of Dharambir was being probed. ASI Vijay was questioning him in a room on the first floor of the police station. Vijay went to the washroom and when he returned, he found Dharambir lying on the floor in the courtyard of the complex, police said. He was rushed to AIIMS and his family was informed. He succumbed at the trauma centre.
The deceased’s family members alleged that he was brutally assaulted in police custody. “Two policemen came to our house and showed us pictures of an auto. When my father confirmed it was ours, they took him to the police station. After sometime, he called up saying the police was demanding `50,000 and asked us to bring the money,” said Saurav, Dharambir’s son. “He helped the police arrest the accused but they tortured him to death.”