New Delhi, November 11, 2021 (PPI-OT):The death of a 21-year-old Muslim man has raised questions on Uttar Pradesh Police theory of suicide by strangulation. Many people are saying that the explanation given by the Superintendent of Police, Etah, does not add up.
Police picked up Altaf Ahmad and lodged him in custody at Sadar Kotwali police station of Kasganj in connection with a case of “kidnapping of a woman for marriage”. A video statement released by Kasganj police showed the Etah SP, Rohan Pramod Bothre, claiming that Altaf went to the washroom at the police station and when he did not come out after some time, cops went in and found that he was lying unconscious.
“He was wearing a black jacket and it appears he hooked the string, attached to the hood of the jacket, to a tap in the washroom and tried to strangle himself. He was brought out unconscious and taken to the hospital. He died within 5-10 minutes,” Bothre said. He announced that five cops have been suspended over “negligence”.
Chand Mian, father of the deceased, alleged that his son was murdered. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday evening, he said he handed over Altaf to police at 8 am on Monday for questioning and “today I came to know they (police) have hanged my son.”
The family also held a demonstration outside the hospital where the autopsy was done. Altaf had reportedly eloped with a minor girl from the Hindu community who is still untraceable. A case of kidnapping on complaint of the girl’s father was lodged under IPC Section 363 (kidnapping) and 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing a woman to compel her for marriage).
However, as soon as the video of the SP surfaced on social media people began asking questions as to how come someone strangles himself with a string from a plastic tap just two feet high. Nitin Thakur, a Lucknow-based journalist with Aaj Tak, posted a photo of the washroom of the police station, “Was Altaf a few feet tall?” Another gory image also surfaced on internet which showed a lifeless body of Altaf hanging from the water pipe.
Journalist Neelesh Misra asked, “How does a person choke himself from a string tied to a tap? Would urge the SP to elaborate. And if he indeed (allegedly) die by suicide, then why have five policemen been suspended? Get your story straight please. Uncanny, reading this a day after watching.”
Similar question was asked by Congress Youth leader Srinivas. Activists also launched a Twitter campaign demanding justice for the deceased. AIMIM supremo Asaduddin Owaisi demanded arrest of the cops and compensation for the family. “There is an epidemic of police atrocities in UP,” Owaisi wrote on Twitter with the hashtag #WeDemandJusticeForAltaaf.
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