RANCHI: Police on Thursday, resorted to lathi-charge and fired tear gas shells to disperse the crowd protesting against the death of a cybercriminal in police custody.
According to police, they had to used baton and tear gas shells after a crowd along with the family members of accused, blocked the road and started pelting stones on police, accusing them of killing the accused by thrashing him badly.
Police officials told that four cybercriminals were detained from Dudhni village under Paljori Police station in Deoghar on Wednesday afternoon and taken to the police station for interrogation.
But, 35-year-old Meraj Ansari's health suddenly started deteriorating during interrogation, following which, he was taken to Sadar Hospital where doctors declared him dead.
When the dead body was taken to the village after postmortem, the angry villagers and family members blocked the road and started protesting.
The family members alleged that Meraj died after being thrashed badly in police custody. Additional police force has been deployed in the areas as tension persists in the village.
Meanwhile, the deceased's elder brother Mehboob Ansari alleged that the police started beating Meraj right after taking him into custody. Local people were also mistreated when they protested, he said.
“When police took Meraj along with them from his house in the afternoon, he was quite healthy, then how come his health deteriorated all of a sudden in the evening,” said Mahboob Ansari.
Meraj was being beaten up by the police while being taken by them from his home, he added.
Meraj Ansari’s maternal uncle also alleged that the police forcefully took away four innocent youths along with them, accusing them of being cybercriminals.
“The situation is so worse here that the police collect money by accusing innocent youths in the name cybercriminals. When people question them, they say that they have been given target by the higher officials to arrest cybercriminals,” said MD Yasin Ansari.
The police beat Meraj to death and left my nephew in the hospital, he added.
“We want justice and demand strict action against those who were involved in this gruesome killing of my nephew,” said Ansari.
Another villager, Mustakin Ansari, alleged that the police were demanding Rs 10 lakh for each of the detained persons to release them, but when they got to know about the death of Meraj, they released the other three accused persons for free.
Local villagers also alleged that the local police behave brutally with them every day as a result of which, Meraj lost his life.
Police officials could not be contacted till late evening till the report was being filed. The phone number of Deoghar SP Ajeet Peter Dungdung was also found to be switched off.