Kanpur: Three policemen suspended a day after farmer’s death at station

While Arun Kumar Gupta’s family alleged that the police had beaten him up on Thursday after he protested against the delay in the registration of an FIR based on his complaint against a neighbour, the police denied the allegation and claimed that Gupta’s son had said that his father might have “consumed some poisonous substance”.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Ajit Kumar Sinha said Additional Superintendent Aditya Kumar Shukla had been directed to conduct an inquiry into the matter and action would be taken based on his report. Though no FIR has been lodged in connection with the farmer’s death, Sinha on Saturday suspended sub-inspectors Krishna Kant and Vineet Yadav, and constable Suresh Pal on the charge of negligence of duty.

The SP said that on Friday Gupta had visited the police station to collect a copy of the FIR registered in connection with the alleged theft of a bag of wheat. The farmer, according to his family, had been visiting the station since Tuesday to get the case filed against his neighbour Mithun Chaturvedi for attempting to steal the bag from his godown the day before.

Gupta’s wife Poonam said that on Tuesday the policemen at the Saddh station turned back her husband without providing any proper reason.

“On Thursday morning, my husband again went to the police station. The policemen asked him to wait. Around 3 pm, my husband got angry and scolded the policemen for not lodging an FIR and making him wait for five hours,” Poonam said.

She added, “Irked over it, the policemen thrashed and put him inside the lockup. Two hours later, they released my husband. The policemen still did not lodge the FIR.”

Poonam claimed her husband was depressed since the alleged assault and stopped eating properly. “On Friday, he again went to the police station in his three-wheeler. A few minutes later, the driver of the three-wheeler, Ramlal, called my eldest son Hemant and asked him to immediately reach the station. Seeing the condition of my husband deteriorating, the policemen rushed him to a hospital. In the meantime, Hemant also reached there. During treatment, my husband died,” she added.

The police claimed Gupta’s health worsened after he reached the station, and added that Hemant had told officials that he suspected his father had consumed “some poisonous substance”.

On coming to know about Gupta’s death, the rest of his family and his neighbours in Gopalpur village reached the station and staged a protest. They also pelted stones at police vehicles parked on the station’s premises.

The medical authorities handed over the farmer’s body to his family after conducting an autopsy. Ghatampur Circle Officer Sushil Kumar said the autopsy report was awaited, and added that Gupta’s FIR had been filed on Friday.

Gupta’s funeral rites were held on Saturday. A police team has been deployed outside his home.