Minorities panel to UP: Submit probe report on custody death

In a notice dated November 11, the panel said it “has taken cognizance of the report published in The Indian Express on the death of the youth in police custody”, and sought the probe report “so that it can be placed before the Commission”.

“We have asked for a report from both the Chief Secretary as well as the DGP and have told them to respond within 15 days on the custody death,’’ the Commission’s chairperson Iqbal Singh Lalpura told The Indian Express.

On Thursday, The Indian Express reported that five police personnel at the Kotwali Police Station in Kasganj were suspended over the incident. Police have claimed that the youth, Altaf, had hanged himself on Tuesday with a drawstring from the hood of his jacket, using a water pipe in a toilet that is just a couple of feet from the ground.

Altaf, a labourer, was picked up for questioning on a complaint by a Hindu family, who accused him of kidnapping their 16-year-old daughter. Police said they rushed Altaf to the Community Health Centre on discovering him in the toilet, but he died during treatment.

Police said that while an autopsy confirmed death by hanging, they had a written statement from Altaf’s family that he was suffering from depression.

The girl, a student of Class 10, remains missing. “Teams have been formed to find her and we are gathering evidence. The minor will be found soon,” Kasganj SP Rohan Bortre Pramod said.

Till Friday evening, no complaint had been received by Kasganj Police from Altaf’s family in connection with the incident. Officials said a departmental inquiry and a magisterial probe into the death were being conducted simultaneously. They said the investigating officers would record the statements of those present in the station at the time of incident, including another man who was in the lock-up.

The custodial death was strongly condemned by opposition parties, with Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra questioning the human rights record of the BJP-ruled state and saying that law and order was “in complete disarray”.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav demanded a judicial probe into the matter.

Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind president Maulana Mahmood Madani sought a high-level inquiry and criticised the UP government for its “failure to protect human rights”.

He demanded immediate action against the police personnel involved and Rs 50 lakh in compensation for Altaf’s family. He also demanded that “the series of police encounters and custodial deaths” in UP be investigated by a high-level committee under the supervision of the Supreme Court.