'Hung me upside down, beat me for an hour': UP SHO among 3 cops found guilty of torturing farmer; all suspended

AGRA: Three police personnel, including a station house officer (SHO), were found guilty of custodial torture of a farmer in Agra's Kirawali police station following a departmental inquiry, police said on Wednesday.ACP Rambadan Singh, who had conducted a probe into the matter, said, "Kirawali SHO Neeraj Singh, sub-inspector Dharmveer Singh and constable Ravi Malik have been found guilty and a report has been sent to police commissioner Deepak Kumar. After approval, further action will be taken."The incident dates back to Dec 21 last year when 42-year-old farmer Raju Sharma was allegedly picked up from Karhara village and kept in unlawful custody at Kirawali police station in connection with a four-month-old murder case of a retired Armyman. According to the family, Sharma was hung upside down and brutally thrashed by policemen during questioning, which resulted in multiple bruises and ligament fractures in both legs.Police initially tried to hush up the matter by admitting the injured farmer to a private hospital and telling his family that he suffered "minor bruises". However, the incident came to the fore when the family approached local political representatives and alleged that the ACP filed a one-sided report without recording their version.Acting on a complaint, DCP (Agra West) Atul Sharma visited the hospital and examined the medical reports, following which police commissioner Deepak Kumar transferred ACP Achhnera Rampravesh Gupta to traffic and suspended the three accused personnel.Raju's father, Radhey Shyam, who was also called to the police station that evening, told TOI, "My son was taken to the roof of the police station subjected him to third-degree torture. When Raju lost consciousness, they brought him down and rushed him to a hospital. I kept asking the SHO, but he said he suffered minor injuries by slipping. The police tried to brush aside the matter and offered us Rs 10,000."Raju, a father of two, said, "The cops forced me to name myself in the case, and they kept beating me. They tied me, hung me upside down and thrashed me for an hour. The beating was so severe that five canes broke."