Two men, arrested in a case of robbery and murder, were allegedly tortured with nails hammered into their bodies, and they died in police custody in Sitamarhi on 7 March.
The families of the men have filed an FIR for their murder, and shared the pictures and videos as well, reported The Indian Express.
Sabbil Rooney, a college student, who is helping the families with the paperwork told The Indian Express, “We have filmed videos and have photographs of the injury marks caused by iron nails being hammered in. The nails were hammered into their thighs, soles and wrists. The legs of both victims were severely injured. We are waiting for the postmortem report for specific details.”
Speaking to The Indian Express, the Bihar Director General of Police Gupteshwar Pandey confirmed the death and called it “unacceptable.”
On 6 March, Gufran Alam (30) and Taslim Ansari (32) were reportedly picked up by the police from Ramdiha village, in connection with motorcycle theft and the murder of its owner Muzaffarpur resident Rakesh Kumar.
Ansari had a previous arrest record, and was out on bail after four criminal cases in East Champaran and Sitamarhi. However, it was Alam’s first arrest.
Alam is also the father of two children, Wakaf (5) and Neha Tarannum (3), reported The Indian Express.
Ansari’s father, Molazim Ansari added, “It was around 1:15 am when the police came. The policemen ransacked our house and took away Taslim who worked as a daily wager.”
Ali, his brother Sanawar Ali and other villagers reached the Chakiya police station around 3 am on 6 March, however they could not locate Alam or Ansari.
The families of the two arrested men reached the police station on the evening of 6 March, and were told that the two men were dead and their postmortems were being processed.
The deaths of the two men have led to protests ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Opposition parties in Bihar.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Left parties have demanded a judicial probe into the alleged murder of the two Muslim youths reported NewsClick.
Alam and Ansari’s family members have also asked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to ensure action and direct top police officers to handle the case against the accused policemen as they fear some police officers might suppress the case.
Incidentally, one of the prime accused in the case, Dumra police station's suspended SHO Chandra Bhushan Singh, escaped from police custody on Thursday, 7 March, reported The Times of India.
Sitamarhi SP D Amarkesh on Friday, 8 March, told The Times of India that Singh was arrested from Dumra police station area and was then kept in custody at Runnisaidpur police station.
Amarkesh added that Singh is now accused in another FIR lodged with Runnisaidpur police station for escaping from police custody.
With inputs from The Indian Express, NewsClick and The Times of India)
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