"My father died in police custody. We want justice. His condition was very serious, yet the police forcibly brought him to the police station. This kind of behaviour of the police with a patient was not right. He was a patient," claimed 18-year-old Afnan.
Arfan's father Mohammad Irfan died under suspicious circumstances on Monday, 20 January at Raisatti police station in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh.
While the family alleges that Mohammad Irfan died due to police torture, the Sambhal Police has claimed that he died of a heart attack.
"As per the postmortem report, the man died of a heart attack. There were no other injuries," PRO of Sambhal SP told The Quint.
After the death of Mohammad Irfan on Monday, his family and locals protested at the Raisatti outpost and demanded justice.
On Monday, January 20, the family members of the deceased Irfan and the local people protested at the Raisatti police station.
What happened on Monday?
Deceased Irfan's 18-year-old son Afnan had filed a complaint in Sambhal's Nakhasa police station. According to the complaint, this entire incident took place on Monday, January 20 at 12.30 pm.
"Raisatti outpost in-charge Jitendra entered the house with four policemen and started abusing and beating Mohammad Irfan with sticks and kicks and punches," Afnan claimed in his complaint.
Afnan also alleged that "when he reached the police station, he saw that the policemen were beating his father inside the station. Due to which he died."
He alleged that after the death of Mohammad Irfan, all the policemen left the police station and ran away.
Irfan's wife Reshma (35), told the media, "They took my husband to the police station where he was beaten up. We pleaded with the police team that he was unwell and should at least be given time to take his medicine, but they did not listen to us. If he had taken his medicine, he might have survived. My husband was killed by the police.”
Despite the complaint of the victim's family in this case, FIR has not been registered yet.
"The policemen dragged my father away with them"
In a conversation with The Quint, Afnan also accused the police of misbehaving, pushing, and abusing the women of the house.
He claimed, "My father was sitting at home. He was taking his medicines. Then the police came to the house. The policemen did not even let my father take the medicines. They started misbehaving with him and his family members. After this, they forcibly dragged my father and took him with them.”
Afnan said that his father had undergone a throat operation on Saturday, January 18, and he was on medication, which was very important for him to take.
He alleged, "The policemen treated my father like an animal. The policemen pushed my father, punched him, and beat him on his legs with sticks and took him away. During this, they also pushed and abused the women."
"After 10-15 minutes, I reached the Raisatti police station where I saw my father lying on the floor. As soon as I put his head in my lap, he died on the spot. We took him to a clinic near the station where doctors declared him dead.”
45-year-old Mohammad Irfan, a resident of Khaggu Sarai in Sambhal, used to run a fruit cart in the Nakhasa area. He was the sole breadwinner of his family. He is survived by his wife and five children.
Why Did The Police Come To The House?
Afnan told The Quint that his father was the eldest in the family. Because of this, he was called to mediate any kind of dispute between relatives.
As per the family, there was a dispute going on between Irfan's aunt's son and her over division of property. Irfan was called for mediation. As a share in the division, Irfan gave Rs six lakh to the aunt's son.
"Our father had personally given Rs six lakh to his son. Now his mother was asking my father to return that money, while his son was not ready to return the money. The aunt said that Irfan had got the money, so he will have to return it. She had brought the police to our house for this."Afnan, son of deceased Mohammed Irfan
He further claimed, "There was no FIR against my father nor did the police have any warrant. They just came and forcibly took my father away.”
Crowd gathered outside Raisatti police station on Monday, 21 January.
Sambhal SP Krishna Kumar Bishnoi told the media, "A woman named Shafi Begum appeared at the police station and gave a written complaint and said that her son beats her every day. The share of the house which was given to her in the amount of Rs 6 lakhs through Irfan, neither is he returning her money nor is he leaving the house. After the woman's serious allegations, Irfan was brought to the police station for investigation.”
'Died of a Heart Attack'
SP KK Bishnoi completely denied the allegations of the police not allowing Irfan to take medicines and called them baseless.
He claimed, "When he was brought to the police station, he (Irfan) told me that he needed some medicine. The police gave him the medicine. After that, he complained of chest pain. After which he was sent to the hospital along with his son, where he died of cardiac arrest."
'Haven't Heard Anything Yet'
Afnan said, "Our case has not been heard till now. When we gave a written complaint to register an FIR, they (police) told us that you have mentioned assault and misbehaviour in the complaint. In such a situation, further action will be taken only after the postmortem report comes."
"We just want justice. All we want to say is that if the police had not taken my father away at that time, he would have been with us today."
The postmortem of Mohammad Irfan was conducted on Tuesday, 21 January.
'Licensed Killing Machine'
Uttar Pradesh Congress has raised questions on UP Police and the state government regarding this matter. Congress said, "The deaths in police custody in UP are not stopping. Yogi Adityanath's police should be declared a 'licensed killing machine'. After all, his police has made this state number 1 in the case of deaths in custody.”
Samajwadi Party also demanded strict action against the accused policemen. The party tweeted from its official X handle, "Another innocent died in police custody, UP police is unbridled! A young man died in police custody in Sambhal police station, shameful."
The party further said, "Under the BJP government, the police have become oppressive and the public is being exploited. Strictest action should be taken against the accused policemen.”