Lucknow: Inspector transferred after man dies in police custody

Lucknow custodial death: A day after a 30-year-old man died while in police custody, Ashwani Chaturvedi, an inspector at the Chinhat police station in Lucknow, was removed from his position. Bharat Pathak has been appointed as the new SHO of Chinhat police station. 

Mohit Kumar died in custody

A resident of Jainabad in the Chinhat area, a 30-year-old man, Mohit Kumar, was arrested in connection with a case on Saturday and taken to Chinhat police station in Lucknow. His condition deteriorated at the police station and he was rushed to a community health centre. From there, he was referred to a hospital, where he died, according to officials.

Kumar's family alleged he died due to police brutality and based on a complaint lodged by them, an FIR has been registered against an inspector of the Chinhat police station and others, including some unidentified persons, a senior police officer said.

Cop, others booked 

As per the officials, an FIR against Chaturvedi and others in connection with the case. 

Following the complaint filed by the victim's mother, an FIR has been registered against Ashwani Chaturvedi and several others, including some unidentified individuals. Additional Commissioner of Police Vibhuti Khand Radha Ram Singh informed reporters on Sunday that a thorough investigation is currently underway.

The exact cause of death will be ascertained after the post-mortem which will be videographed, the officer added.

CCTV clip went viral

A purported CCTV clip has gone viral on social media, showing the victim lying in the lockup. Family members of the deceased have accused the police of intentionally leaking only a small portion of the footage to protect themselves, asserting that Kumar was beaten to death by the officers. 

According to police statements, Kumar was taken to a community health centre after he fell ill at the police station and was subsequently referred to a larger facility where he later died. However, Shobharam, the victim's brother, who claims he was also briefly detained before being released, alleged that the police brutally assaulted Kumar in front of him and only sent him to the hospital after he had already died.

Opposition on custodial death

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday slammed the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh over the incident, saying the term “police custody” should be changed to “torture house”. "This is the second news of death (read ‘murder’) in police custody in the last 16 days in the Uttar Pradesh capital. The government, which is expert in changing names, should now change the name of 'police custody' to 'torture house'. Every demand of the victim's family must be met… We are with them," Yadav said in a post on X.

Condemning the incident, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati said that te government must take effective steps to provide justice to the victim's family.  "It is natural that the family and people are angry and indignant over the alleged death of businessman Mohit Pandey in police custody in UP's capital Lucknow. This incident is highly condemnable. The government must take effective steps to provide justice to the victim's family," she said in an X post. 

She further said, "Apart from this, the incidents of atrocities on women happening every day in the state are also very worrying, on which the government should take strict legal action against such criminals, which is very necessary."

Earlier this month, a 24-year-old man who was arrested during a raid on a gambling den in Lucknow died in police custody. The family of the man, Aman Gautam, alleged that he was beaten to death by police. However, police claimed that he died of a heart attack.

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