7 Faridabad cops booked for allegedly assaulting 24-yr-old, who later died

The Nuh police booked seven Faridabad policemen on Sunday for allegedly assaulting a 24-year-old man, suspected to be involved in a fraud case, who later died

The Nuh police booked seven Faridabad policemen on Sunday for allegedly assaulting a 24-year-old man, suspected to be involved in a fraud case, who later died.

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The family of the victim, identified as Junaid, alleged that no case was registered against him, but a cybercrime cell team of the Faridabad police kept him in custody overnight on May 31 and assaulted him, before he was released on June 1. Junaid, who was a resident of Nuh’s Bichhor, died on June 11.

Following the incident, villagers and family members of Junaid protested on the road near Bichhor village on Saturday. Some protesters allegedly pelted stones at police personnel and torched a police vehicle, following which eight persons were arrested and 200 others were booked, said the Nuh police.Faridabad police commissioner OP Singh said on Monday that allegations that “a cyber police team killed Junaid in a fraud case were baseless”. Singh, however, said that the allegations were being investigated, and action will be taken against those found guilty.

Junaid’s father, Hassan, alleged, “He had multiple injuries all over his body when he returned home after being released from police custody, and he had been complaining of acute pain since then. We took him to a local doctor, who had asked us to admit him to a private hospital. Junaid died while we were on the way to a Hodal hospital on June 11.”

The victim’s family had approached the sub-divisional magistrate, and got a medical test done to ascertain the nature of his injuries. Hassan says they have “enough evidence and recordings of the policemen who had demanded money from them to release Junaid.

“We had paid the police the amount demanded (which wasn’t disclosed) within a few hours, but they still assaulted and tortured him. They had called me, and I have a recording of the call where they could be heard threatening us,” Hassan added.

A case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 342 (wrongful confinement), 302 (murder), and 34 (common intention) has been registered against two sub-inspectors, two assistant sub-inspectors, two head constables, and Faridabad station house officer (SHO) at the Bichhor police station on Sunday.

Narender Bijarnia, superintendent of police, Nuh, said that the post-mortem report is not clear, and they have sent the victim’s viscera to a laboratory to check the cause of death. “Junaid’s two brothers and other relatives were involved in multiple fraud cases. We have recorded their statements and an investigation is underway. The Faridabad police is yet to take any action against the police personnel who were booked,” Bijarnia said.

Meanwhile, Basant Kumar, SHO of cybercrime police station in Faridabad, said that they had received a tip-off on May 31 about Junaid, his brothers Azad and Irshad, and others identified as Shahid, Parvej, Wasim, Asif, and Nadeem being involved in multiple fraud cases. Following this, the police picked up Junaid, Shahid, Parvej, Wasim, Asif, and Nadeem from Bichhor in Punahana, while they were returning from a wedding ceremony in Rajasthan.

“Junaid, his two brothers, and other relatives were involved in multiple fraud cases. However, only Shahid was arrested. Junaid and others’ names were not mentioned in any of the FIRs, and we released five of them on June 1,” Kumar said, adding that the police could not be held responsible for a death that took place 10 days after the interrogation.

Police found out during investigation that a man named Issar, also referred to as “chairman”, had allegedly taken money from Junaid’s father for police assistance. However, when it didn’t materialise, he started levelling allegations against the police. “He claimed that he has evidence, and will produce those before the police on Monday, but we didn’t receive any evidence yet. They planned all these to ensure that no raids are being conducted in their area,” said the Faridabad police commissioner.

OP Singh added that they are investigating the matter, but the allegations seem to be baseless. “There are 412 cases registered against suspects from the Bichhor area, for duping people of ₹2.5 crore. We arrested two more persons, who were related to Junaid, in similar cases on June 3. They were involved in OLX and Paytm frauds,” he said, adding that they are taking legal opinion in the case registered against the policemen.

“Junaid had kidney issues and was handed over to his relatives in presence of an assistant sub-inspector. On further investigation, Junaid’s brothers and Asgar were arrested two days later,” OP Singh said.

There are CCTV cameras installed at the cyber police station, and police have scanned the footage. The police team had no physical contact with Junaid, said officials.