Bathinda: Theft accused dies in ‘police custody’, father alleges torture

The deceased’s father alleged on Wednesday that his son, a resident of Jai Singh Wala, was a drug addict and had left on Sunday for an undisclosed location to buy narcotics, when police held him on flimsy grounds

A 26-year-old man arrested in a theft case reportedly died in Bathinda police custody late Tuesday night.

He alleged that his son was implicated in a case of theft of copper wires from electricity transformers and he died due to torture in police custody. (HT)

The deceased’s father alleged on Wednesday that his son, a resident of Jai Singh Wala, was a drug addict and had left on Sunday for an undisclosed location to buy narcotics, when police held him on flimsy grounds.

He alleged that his son was implicated in a case of theft of copper wires from electricity transformers and he died due to torture in police custody.

Denying the allegation of torture, the Bathinda deputy superintendent of police, rural, Harvinder Singh Sran said that his health deteriorated suddenly and he was rushed to the government hospital in Sangat town last night.

Later, the doctors referred the patient to the Shaheed Bhai Mani Singh Civil Hospital, where he died during treatment.

The DSP said that the accused and two others were arrested for a case registered by the Sangat police on September 13.

The three were produced in court on September 14, and they were sent to police remand, Sran said.

The DSP said that the accused had a criminal past and he had three cases registered against him, including murder, rape and theft.

He said that a postmortem examination would ascertain the cause of death and his drug addiction history.