The custodial death of an undertrial has prompted a murder case against officials of the Kanpur district jail.
A formal case was registered against unnamed jail officials after undertrial Narendra died in a hospital in Kanpur on Tuesday.
The 35-year-old man was hospitalised with a head injury apparently sustained during indiscriminate thrashing by jail officials. He succumbed to his injuries later.
Narendra was lodged at Kanpur jail since July after his arrest in a case of robbery at the Kalyanpur area of the city.
According to deputy superintendent of police Vipul Mishra, "the report was lodged by Dhanpat, maternal uncle of the victim, following which we have detailed our men to investigate the case".
In his complaint Dhanpat alleged Narendra was beaten up inside the jail because his family members could not cough up the money jail officials had demanded.
Jail authorities, however, vehemently refuted the allegation.
Even the police were initially unwilling to lodge the case. However, the FIR was registered only after Narendra's family and friends blocked the city's main thoroughfare by placing the body in the middle of the road on Wednesday afternoon.
Additional district magistrate (city) Shakuntala Gautam told IANS: "We will ensure a free and fair investigation and if we detect any foul play, the guilty would be brought to book."
{{/usCountry}}Additional district magistrate (city) Shakuntala Gautam told IANS: "We will ensure a free and fair investigation and if we detect any foul play, the guilty would be brought to book."
{{/usCountry}}According to a report of the National Human Rights Commission, Uttar Pradesh has been way ahead of most other Indian states in custodial deaths, largely because the guilty have literally gotten away with murder.