Custodial death of Salman case accused: CID probing negligence of constables monitoring CCTV

State CID is investigating negligence of 4 police constables on duty at Crime Branch lock-up where an accused died by suicide. CCTV footage being reviewed.

Mumbai: Four police constables who were on duty at the lock-up of the Crime Branch where an accused allegedly died by suicide on Wednesday are under scanner of the state Crime Investigation Department (CID) for negligence.

23-year-old Anujkmar Thapan was found hanging inside the detention facility.

The constables, along with a few other police personnel, were tasked to monitor the CCTV cameras installed inside the detention facility where 23-year-old Anujkmar Thapan was found hanging. Thapan was one of the four men arrested in connection with the firing incident outside actor Salman Khan’s house. Thapan, arrested from Punjab on April 26, was lodged in a common lock-up along with 11 others arrested for various crimes.

A senior Crime Branch official said, “It seems like a case of complete negligence by policemen deployed on duty.” Thapan had allegedly torn a strip from a darri (rug) that was provided to him in the lock-up. The four guards on duty and six other accused inside the lock up allegedly failed to notice and suspect that Thapan was tearing the strip from a ‘darri’, Crime Branch officials said.

Thapan’s inquest panchnama and post mortem were conducted at JJ hospital on Thursday. The custodial death is being investigated by two authorities – first by the state Crime Investigation Department (CID) team under The Code of Criminal Procedure’s Section 174 , and second, a magisterial investigation will also be conducted under Section 176 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. A senior officer from CID said that they have received an order from the headquarters to conduct an investigation into the death.

Anuj Thapan’s brother Abhishek told the media, “My brother was not the person who could end his life. He must have been killed.”