India News | Allahabad HC Directs to Transfer Custodial Death Case to SIT

Allahabad, May 24 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court has directed the state government to transfer the probe into an alleged custodial death of one Anil Singh of Kannauj in 2020 to a special investigation team (SIT).

The SIT will be headed by an IPS officer not below the rank of superintendent of police, and will have two other officers of lower rank but not below the rank of deputy superintendent of police, the court said. A bench of Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rajnish Kumar further directed that the SIT while investigating the matter shall consider all aspects of the incident, including whether the death is a suicide or murder, and submit its report within three months. The order was passed on last Friday on petitions filed by Tribhuvan Prasad Verma and Arun Kumar, two policemen accused in the case.

Also Read | Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi's Meeting With UK Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn Anti-National Act, Plot Against Country, Says BJP.

However, the court while transferring the probe to SIT gave interim relief to the two policemen and observed, "Subject to petitioners cooperating with the SIT, no coercive action shall be taken against them pursuant to the impugned first information report.”

Petitioners' plea was that an FIR was lodged by the father of Anil Singh, who allegedly committed suicide after he was “ill treated” by police in police station, against the policemen involved in the case, but another case was registered by police against their officers of abetting suicide. Therefore, it was second FIR of the same incident hence not sustainable in the eyes of law, the petitions said.

Also Read | Rajya Sabha Elections 2022: Nomination Process for Upcoming Polls Begins in Rajasthan.

Counsel appearing for the deceased's father argued that it was a murder case and placed certain photographs of the incident and submitted that the height of the ceiling of the toilet, in which body of the deceased was hanging, was very low and even in the photographs the deceased was shown to be in standing position and his feet were touching the floor.

On May 19, 2020, a complaint was lodged at Tirwa Kotwali police station in Kannauj by the in-laws of Anil Singh for creating nuisance in a drunken state at their house. Following which he was taken to the police station and later found dead in its toilet.

The high court fixed September 6 as the next date of hearing in the case.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)