RANCHI: A newborn baby was on Wednesday crushed to death under the boots of policemen who were raiding the house at Koshogodhodighi village in Giridih district in Jharkhand.
The police were on a hunt for the child's grandfather who has been wanted in an assault case.
The police went to the house and tried to force the door open. The women folks inside the house refused to open the door. But the police broke open the door and went on a rampage. In a bid to look inside a shelf, the police climbed on the bed and failed to notice the 4-day-old child asleep there and crushed the baby to death by stepping on him.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren has directed the police headquarters to probe the matter and initiate action.
According to sources, a team led by Sangam Pathak, in-charge of Deori police station, reached the house of one Bhushan Pandey to arrest him in the wee hours.
When the family members did not open the door, the team forcibly entered inside and a policeman climbed on the bed where the infant was sleeping and allegedly crushed him to death.
The police did not arrest Pandey after the incident and left the spot, said sources.
The incident created an uproar among the villagers who are demanding that a murder case be registered against all the policemen present in the team.
(With inputs from IANS.)