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UP farmer arrested for power theft dies in custody, probe ordered
The deceased, Brijpal Shakya, a native of Jarifnagar area in western UP had been arrested by the local tehsildar to recover fine for electricity theft.
A day after 40-year-old Brijpal Shakya, held in the tehsil lockup for electricity theft, died under mysterious circumstances in Jarifnagar area of Badaun, the district administration on Saturday set up a magisterial inquiry into the incident and suspended two tehsil employees. The local tehsildar and nayab tehsildar have also been called to district headquarters and asked to submit a written report on the matter.
Meanwhile the opposition parties have opened a front against the state government for the incident. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted on Sunday,”The UP BJP government has hiked electricity prices and farmers are being tortured by putting them in jail in the name of electricity bill collection. The incident with Brijlal(Pal) ji, a farmer from Badaun is deplorable . Their family should be compensated and no farmers should be harassed.”
Samajwadi Party president and former chief minister of UP Akhilesh Yadav also criticised the government for the incident while speaking to reporters in Lucknow.
Reportedly, the deceased, Brijpal Shakya, a native of Jarifnagar area under Sahaswan tehsil of Badaun in western UP was arrested by local tehsildar Dhirendra Kumar on September 23 to recover fine for electricity theft. Shakya, a farmer who also sold some Ayurvedic products, was fined ₹ 81,947 for stealing electricity and the money was to be recovered by the revenue officials of the tehsil.
Since September 23, Shakya was kept in the lock-up on the tehsil premises. On October 1 he fell ill. The staff failed to find the keys of the lock-up and broke the door to take him to the nearby primary health centre. There the doctors referred him to the district hospital but Shakya died on the way. The doctors at the district hospital declared him ‘brought dead’.
The post mortem examination of the body was inconclusive so the doctors have preserved his viscera for further investigation.
District magistrate (DM) of Badaun Dinesh Kumar Singh said, “The incident is a serious glitch on the part of the revenue official. We have suspended record keeper Ram Nivas and another employee at the tehsil. The magisterial inquiry in the matter has started and strict action will be taken against those found guilty.”
The magisterial inquiry has been entrusted to tehsildar of Badaun Sadar Paras Nath Maurya.
Shakya’s family has accused the Sahasawan tehsildar and four other officials for the death and demanded police action against them. The local police have not filed any FIR on the complaint so far.
