Assaulted by sub-inspector, 70-year-old retired school principal dies

BAREILLY: A 70-year-old man who retired as principal of an upper primary school died on Thursday morning after he was brutally beaten up by a sub-inspector on January 5.

According to the family of the deceased, SI Herpat Singh of Bhojipura police station had detained Tika Ram on January 5 after the latter had a fight with his neighbour.

Ram was severely injured because of the beating and was admitted at a private hospital for treatment. After Ram’s condition deteriorated on Wednesday night, he was referred to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi but succumbed to his injuries on the way.

SSP Muniraj G suspended the SI on Thursday after lodging an FIR against him. Tika Ram's elder son, Tarachand, told TOI, “My father, a resident of Etauwa Kedarnath village under Bhojipura police station, retired as principal in 2013 from upper primary school at Majhauwa Gangapur village. We have some issues with our neighbour Devidas, 40. On the night of January 4, Devidas and his two sons -- Aman and Abhishek -- threw garbage on the boundary wall of our house. On January 5, I, along with my father asked Devidas about it, but he started abusing us and attacked us.” “We immediately went to the Bhojipura police station to lodge a complaint. Sub-inspector Herpat Singh did not listen to us and started abusing us and then brutally thrashed my father, injuring him gravely.

At that time, SHO Rajesh Singh was not present. I then took my injured father to a nearby private hospital, where doctors referred him to a bigger private hospital in Bareilly. On January 7, I met SSP Muniraj G and gave him written complaint against the SI,” said Tarachand. “My father suffered head injuries and was in the ICU in the private hospital in Bareilly. When his condition deteriorated on Wednesday evening, he was referred to AIIMS, Delhi, but died on the way,” Tarachand said.

SSP Muniraj G, told TOI, “After the incident on January 7, the accused SI was sent to the police lines. After the victim’s death on Thursday, the SI was suspended and an FIR was lodged against him under the section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of IPC. The SI is on the run and we are conducting raids to nab him.”