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Kanpur bizman who died in police custody had 26 injuries: Autopsy
Lodging of FIR of murder ordered against nine cops and a doctor who tried to cover up the alleged police brutality
KANPUR Kanpur Dehat businessman Balwant Singh, who died in police custody after he was detained in an alleged robbery case, was assaulted and had 26 injuries on his body, according to the post-mortem report.
Nine cops were suspended on Tuesday, even as police said Singh died of a cardiac arrest. “Singh died due to assault. We have put that in our report, and the entire process has been recorded,” one of the doctors who performed the autopsy said. The report, seen by HT, said the businessman died due to 26 injuries.
Kanpur Dehat SP Suniti refused to comment on the report. She said all the suspended cops are absconding. “Six teams have been formed to arrest them,” she said. A murder case has been registered against the cops, she added.
Meanwhile, anger prevailed in Lalpur Sarraiya village where thousands gathered in solidarity with Balwant’s family that refused to cremate his body, demanding arrest of the policemen.
SP (Kanpur Dehat) was gheraoed when she reached the village along with other officials to defuse the tense situation. However, the family agreed to perform the last rites following intervention of BJP MP from Akbarpur, Devendra Singh Bholey.
District administration officials gave a cheque of ₹4 lakh to the family and sanctioned lease of one and a half bigha land along with widow pension for Balwant’s wife.
Balwant, 30, was detained on Monday for questioning in connection with a robbery with his uncle Chandra Bhan in Shivli on December 6. Bhan was returning from work with ₹2.5 lakh cash and jewellery when four people hurled chilli powder into his eyes and decamped with the booty.
The police arrested three people and Balwant was called for questioning after the trio mentioned his involvement.
The deceased’s brother, Sachin Sengar, said he saw the policemen assaulting him inside Rania police station.
Earlier, Balwant’s family did not allow the post-mortem examination to take place in Kanpur Dehat, alleging that local doctors were siding with the police. They said one doctor, in particular, ignored the injury marks on the body and declared Balwant’s death a result of heart attack.
