UP police in hyper mode, custodial deaths multiply

A 27-year-old businessman, who was taken into detention on the night of 12 December by police officers at Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur Dehat district, died in custody the next morning, after which 11 policemen, including two Station House Officers, were placed under suspension.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

Later, five of the 11 policemen—including SHOs of Shivli and Rania police stations, Rajesh Kumar Singh and Shiv Prakash Singh— were booked under murder charges.

In September last year, a 36-year-old Kanpur-based businessman died on the spot after policemen assaulted him during a surprise hotel inspection in Gorakhpur. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which was handed over the case by the state government in the wake of the massive anger in the trading community, named six police officers— the then SHO Jagat Narayan Singh, the then Sub-Inspectors Akshay Kumar Mishra, Vijay Yadav, Rahul Dubey, then Head Constable Kamlesh Singh Yadav and Constable Prashant Kumar of Ramgarh Tal Police Station—in the case.