Lockup suicide triggers stir in Fatehgarh Sahib

Patiala: A judicial inquiry is on after a 30-year-old man's suicide in a police lockup sparked protests and allegations of gross negligence against police in Punjab's Fatehgarh Sahib district.Davinder Singh of Majri Kishne Wali died on Saturday evening in the Amloh police station. Relatives have questioned how the death occurred undetected in a facility equipped with 24-hour CCTV surveillance.Arrested on May 7 for cable theft, the man was serving a three-day remand when he allegedly used a torn police blanket to hang himself from a bathroom tap. Amloh station house officer (SHO) Taranjit Singh said the duty officer had stepped out of the monitoring room for "a few minutes".However, sources indicate the station was hugely understaffed at the time because authorities had diverted its personnel for VIP security duties.Police described Davinder Singh as a habitual offender with nine pending cases related to theft and narcotics. Having only secured bail two weeks earlier, he was reportedly in a fragile mental state.SHO Taranjit Singh said: "The village panchayat had pledged not to help drug offenders secure bail. This left Davinder worried that he would not be released again."Demands for AccountabilityDavinder's family, including his mother, wife, and minor son, staged a protest outside the station. While police have showed the family CCTV footage of the incident, the relatives remain unconvinced. "How did no one see this happening in real-time?" the family asked, demanding to know why the duty officer failed to intervene.A judicial magistrate has seized the lockup's CCTV footage and station records. The inquiry will determine whether mandatory health and mental screenings were conducted upon admission, what was the timeline of the monitoring lapse, and if staffing shortages compromised prisoner safety.MSID:: 131037813 413 |