RANCHI: A 50-year-old man allegedly died after being beaten by police for violating lockdown norms under the Chauparan Police Station in Hazaribagh.
The incident took place on Thursday night when the deceased Chakkan Bhuiyan along with his wife and brother was going to attend a marriage ceremony in Koyali Kalan village, but stopped on the way to refill petrol in their bike.
“All of a sudden, a police patrolling vehicle came and started beating us with their batons. Somehow my sister-in-law and I managed to run away from there but my brother, who was sitting on the back seat, was caught. The policemen started beating him brutally without asking any questions. While hitting his body with their batons, they were shouting - get out of here, get out of here,” said the deceased's brother Shankar Bhuiyan. Three policemen were seen hitting on his body with their batons, one on his head, another one on the back and the third one on his legs, he added.
“After my brother got unconscious, people from the neighbouring places gathered there and he was rushed to the hospital, but he died on the way,” said Shankar Bhuiyan.
Later, agitated over the incident, the crowd took to the streets and blocked the road demanding the suspension of the policemen involved. They returned home only after an assurance given by the DSP that an investigation will be done into the incident.
Local police, however, denied any such incident. “Nobody has been beaten up and there was no injury mark seen on the dead body. Let the postmortem report come to us, everything will be clear,” said the officer in charge of Chouparan Police Station Vinod Tirkey.
Meanwhile, the Barhi DSP, taking strong note of the incident, has ordered an investigation into the matter.