By Express News Service
BHOPAL: Five personnel of the Narcotics Wing of Madhya Pradesh police in Mandsaur district have been suspended after a 21-year-old Rajasthan youth allegedly died in their custody.
Sohail Khan, a resident of Pratapgarh district of Rajasthan, was arrested on Friday for allegedly possessing a narcotic substance, but died the next morning in custody.
The victim’s family alleged that Narcotics Wing Sub Inspector Rajmal Dahima had demanded Rs 45 lakh from them, threatening that if they failed to give the money, Sohail would be implicated in a false case.
According to Mandsaur SP Siddharth Chaudhary, “A judicial probe has been recommended. The autopsy of the body will be performed by a panel of doctors and the procedure will be videographed.”
According to sources, five personnel, including SI Dahima, have been suspended. The deceased youth’s 29-year-old brother-in-law Asif Khan (a native of Pratapgarh which borders Mandsaur) told this newspaper on Sunday that Sohail and he was on way to Mandsaur on Friday afternoon for making purchases for a marriage, when their motorcycle was stopped by a Scorpio boarded by three plainclothes policemen, including SI Dahima.
“They took the keys of our motorbike and herded us in their vehicle, asking us where is the maal (drugs). We told them that we are farmers. However, without listening our words, they kept on thrashing us. We were taken to the police station and were beaten separately with belts,” Asif said.
“At around 8 pm, they telephoned one of our relatives Izhar alias Babloo Khan, who is a Community Liaison Group member of police in Pratapgarh. He came to Mandsaur, where I was handed over to him, after he made some payment to the policemen,” Asif alleged further.
Seconding Asif’s allegations, Babloo Khan said, “I was called by SI Dahima to Mandsaur, where he allowed Asif to go upon payment of Rs 4.5 lakh. He demanded Rs 45 lakh for releasing Sohail and threatened to frame him in NDPS case if we failed to pay the amount.”
