FIR against three Muz cops for custodial death

Patna: An FIR was registered against three police officers of Muzaffarpur district in connection with the custodial death of a man who was found hanging in the police station lockup about a week ago. The officials had earlier been suspended for dereliction of duty, police said on Thursday.
"The accused police officials are former Kanti station in-charge Sudhakar Pandey, sub-inspector S K Singh and constable Raghu Paswan. They have beenput under suspension on the orders of Muzaffarpur SSP, Sushil Kumar, after a departmental inquiry," rural SP Vidyasagar said.
Anand Kumar alias Shivam Jha (35) was picked up by the three police officers on Jan 3 and was allegedly implicated in a false case of possessing arms and ammunition. Shivam's body was found hanging from a window in the police lockup on Jan 6. The police claimed that Shivam died by suicide, but his family members and locals alleged that he was brutally beaten to death by the police.
The incident sparked widespread outrage with an angry mob vandalising the police station and attacking police personnel.
"During the investigation of the custodial death, footage from the CCTV cameras installed in the police station revealed that Shivam hanged himself with a rope. The investigation also found that the police officers, including the then Kanti SHO, did not perform their duty responsibly. An FIR has been registered against the three officers based on the statement of the deceased's mother, Rinku Devi," added the rural SP.