BHOPAL: Alleged police brutality during the ongoing lockdown has led to the death of a 50-year-old farmer Banshi Kushwah in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh early on Monday.
Acting on the matter, the six police personnel, including an ASI, a head constable and four constables posted at Gora Bazar police station of Jabalpur were suspended and attached to district reserve police lines by the Jabalpur SP Amit Singh.
According to ASP-Jabalpur Sanjiv Uike, the six policemen, including an assistant sub-inspector of police (ASI), a head constable and four constables have been suspended. "If the autopsy report establishes that the injuries unleashed by the cops caused the death, then the criminal case will be registered against them," said Uike.
The shocking incident took place on the evening of April 16 evening, when the 50-year-old farmer Banshi Kushwah was returning home after watering his fields. In a video made before Kushwah's death, the farmer alleged that the six cops of Gora Bazar police station stopped him while he was returning from his farm and asked him about the gambling den operating in the area.
"When I denied having knowledge about the gambling den, they (cops) started beating ne heavily. They beat me with lathis after which I fell unconscious and had to be carried home by neighbours," the farmer was seen telling in the video before his death.
On Sunday, the farmer's condition started worsening, after which he was rushed to a hospital, where he died during the course of treatment early on Monday.
With the opposition Congress, including Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha targeting the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government over the farmer's death and demanding monetary compensation to the bereaved family, the state government transferred present Jabalpur SP, the 2009 batch IPS officer Amit Singh as AIG at state PHQ and posted 2010 batch IPS officer and presently AIG PHQ Siddharth Bahuguna as the new Jabalpur SP.