Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Thursday targeted the Uttar Pradesh government over the death of a youth in police custody in the Kasganj district and demanded a high-level inquiry into the incident.
Twenty-two-year-old Altaf, who was called for questioning in a kidnapping case, died at the Kasganj police station on Tuesday evening. The police said that Altaf was accused of eloping with a minor Hindu girl and strangled himself in the washroom of the lockup.
However, Altaf's family members alleged that he was killed by the police.
Taking to Twitter, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati said the death of another youth in police custody is very shameful and sad.
"The government should give strict punishment to the culprits by conducting a high-level inquiry into the incident and also help the victim's family,” Mayawati said.
She added that it was a matter of great concern that the state government was proving to be a failure in preventing deaths in custody.
{{/usCountry}}She added that it was a matter of great concern that the state government was proving to be a failure in preventing deaths in custody.
{{/usCountry}}Five police personnel have been suspended for their negligence in the Kasganj case.
On Wednesday, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) too lambasted the state government over Tuesday's incident.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav claimed Altaf's death as suspicious and that the suspension of police personnel is a mere eyewash. "In this case, a judicial probe should be held to generate confidence in the police in the BJP regime," Yadav tweeted.
Meanwhile, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi cited other cases of custodial deaths in Uttar Pradesh and said the law and order situation is in complete disarray under the Bharatiya Janata Party's rule.
"Is there anything called human rights left in Uttar Pradesh?" Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted on Wednesday.