AHMEDABAD: A 40-year-old man, an
auto driver
, died in
police custody
between 9pm on December 20 and 8am on December 21. While police said the primary cause of death was an
epileptic fit
, the deceased’s viscera was sent for forensic analysis after a postmortem by a panel of doctors at Civil Hospital on Thursday evening.
Investigators said Abdul Gafar Shah, 40, a resident of Amdupura, was detained for questioning after an application of complaint was filed for an altercation on Wednesday. He developed complications overnight after which he was taken to the Civil Hospital, where he died during treatment.
R G Desai, inspector of Kalupur police station, said that Gafar was brought in over an application lodged against him some time ago.
His family, however, challenged the police’s version. Bashir Shah, Gafar’s brother, said personnel from the chowky at Dhana Suthar ni Pol took Gafar from his residence on Tuesday, saying they had question him for a while after which he would be released.
“We later got to know that he was detained on minor charges. Gafar’s son, who used to take meals for him to the chowky, was asked to pay Rs 10,000 for his release on Wednesday. On Thursday, when he went with tea, he was told that Gafar had been taken to hospital. At the hospital we were told that he was dead. We were told he died of an epileptic fit but all his life he never had this disease. Did he develop it in the matter of one day?” he asked.
Bashir alleged torture by the police as he claimed that Gafar’s body bore marks of a beating. The family and relatives refused to accept Gafar’s body at the Civil Hospital and demanded action against the police personnel involved.
Rahul Tripathi, DCP Zone III, was incommunicado when attempts were made to contact him for the police’s version on the family’s allegations.
K L N Rao, special commissioner of police, Sector I, said that a probe headed by an ACP-level officer was constituted to probe the allegations by the family. “All norms laid out by National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) were followed in the postmortem, including videography. The incident will be thoroughly investigated,” he said.
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