Congress has questioned the police action and said that Sajid was beaten up due to his religious identity
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — A 28-year-old Muslim labourer succumbed to his injuries sustained during his “police custody” on Sunday evening.
Family members of the deceased, Sajid Abbasi, accused the local police in Rataul, a village in Western Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat, of custodial torture. They said that the young man was severely beaten up by police after he was picked up over allegations of gambling. Family members said the victim had bruise marks on his body and was unconscious when he was released. There was palpable tension in the area as relatives and villagers created a stir by keeping the body of the deceased at the Rataul bus stand.
Sajid was released when his health deteriorated after the severe beating, family members said. He was later shifted to a hospital in Khekhra where he died.
Wajid Abbasi, brother of the deceased, said: “Sajid was standing near some locals who were playing cards on the street when three constables took him away suspecting him to be one of them. He wasn’t even able to stand after the police thrashing. The cops handed him over to us and told us to bring him back once his condition becomes stable.”
As his body lay at the bus stand, Sajid’s family members and some locals protested at the site demanding strict action against the culprits. The protesters were pacified only after some police officers assured them of action against the culprits.
“We pacified the victim’s family members and other villagers by assuring them of strict action. He was detained following suspicion of gambling but later released as police did not have any evidence against him. He died about half an hour later. The cause of his death will be clear after the autopsy report. Action against those responsible will be taken based on the available facts,” Superintendent of Police Baghpat, Arpit Vijayvargiya, was quoted by Times of India as saying.
However, the police have not yet filed any FIR in the case.
In a statement released by the Khera police station where Sajid was held, the police said: “The torture of Sajid by the police was not proved. The postmortem of the deceased was conducted by a panel of doctors and it was also video-graphed. Family members of the deceased did not file any complaint against any policeman,” read the statement.
It also said that the probe is on and the suspected police official has been put under “the line hazir” (it means posting for routine work and removed from carrying out any law and order and investigation duty”.
Meanwhile, Congress has questioned the police action and said that Sajid was punished for being Muslim.
“Is death a punishment for playing gambling? Is this so big a crime? Whatever the punishment would be, it’s the court which will give it. Why would the police give punishment? It seems his crime was to be a Muslim. Uniformed hooligans of Baba (Yogi Adityanath) have given this punishment for this itself,” tweeted Congress.
