Death of theft accused in police custody; four personnel suspended in Jharkhand

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A 24-year-old man who was arrested on the charge of stealing was found dead inside a police station in Jharkhand's Hazaribag district, prompting the authorities to suspend four personnel, reported PTI.

Superintendent of Police Manoj Ratan Chothe said the accused identified as Ashfaq Khan allegedly strangled himself with his trouser in the washroom of Barhi police station on Tuesday.

Villagers caught Khan "stealing in a house" on Monday night and handed him over to the Barhi police station.

"When he was about to be taken for production in the court today, he wanted to use the toilet inside the detention room. When he did not return even after a few minutes, the police went inside and found that Khan killed himself," Chothe told PTI.

As the information reached the SP, he suspended four police personnel on the charge of alleged dereliction of duty. Chothe said that he asked the SDPO of Barhi to enquire how the man died in police custody.

The relatives of the deceased and a section of villagers put up a blockade for some time on NH-2 alleging that Khan was killed because of torture in police custody.

In a separate incident in May 2023, a suspected thief died in police custody during the intervening night of May 24 and 25 at Kasturba Marg Police station in Borivali East. Identified as Praveen Lahane, 26, the suspected thief was caught and assaulted by a mob who later informed police control room. Police reached the spot and took him into custody for further investigation. However, Lahane died.

In October 2021, a 24-year-old rape accused from Jogeshwari was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Thane Jail. The man was arrested in July for allegedly raping a 17-year-old girl, who was his girlfriend. The incident came to light after the girl was found to be pregnant. The deceased, identified as Vikas Kirashan Athawal, was arrested by the Malad police. The Athawal family has alleged that Vikas had no health issues and he died suddenly under mysterious circumstances. A police officer said, "We have informed his family about the incident and sent his body for postmortem."

(With inputs from PTI)