LUCKNOW: Entire Sikandara police station was booked for murder of a 32-year-old man who died in police custody after he was tortured in front of his 55-year-old mother in Agra. An inspector and two sub-inspectors were also suspended in the case.
Victim Hemant Kumar alias Raju Gupta was picked up by police from his rented house in Narendra Enclave on Gailana Road on the charges of theft on Wednesday evening after his neighbour alleged that he had stolen jewellery worth Rs 7 lakh from his house.
Raju's mother Reenu Lata claimed that her son was mentally retarded and worked as a help at Anshul's chemical shop. Anshul charged her son with theft saying he had stolen jewellery from his house and handed him over to police. She added that the cops thrashed her son in lock-up in front of her despite her repeated pleas for mercy.
Her husband, Om Prakash Gupta, a bank manager with SBI, died in 2001. The mother and son lived on rent, while Reenu's two married daughters live in Vrindavan and Delhi.
Raju's mtoerh also said that next morning she was called to the police station and her son was tortured infront of her inside the police station. She claimed that she was dropped home in the evening but her son was not released from the lock-up. At 9 pm, she was allegedly informed by cops that Raju was dead.
On Friday, police videographed Raju's postmortem which was conducted by a panel of SN Medical College doctors. The autopsy report said that Raju's death was caused due to myocardial infarction (heart attack) and minor injuries on shoulder, arms and legs.
According to SSP Agra, Amit Pathak three cops, including inspector Rishipal, sub-inspectors Anuj Sirohi and Tejveer Singh of Sikandra police station were suspended and an FIR was lodged against all those deployed at Sikandra police station. Besides two of the victim's neighbours, Anshul Pratap Singh and Vivek were also booked in the case. However, Anshul and Vivek have been absconding since the fateful day.