Four cops suspended for ‘torture’ death of boy

GORAKHPUR: Four cops including station house officer of Hata in Kushinagar district in Uttar Pradesh were suspended on Wednesday over the death of a boy who was allegedly kept in illegal custody and beaten up badly. The postmortem report too has stated that the boy died of deep injuries in the abdomen.
Twelve-year-old Siddhant Singh, son of Adya Singh of Pagra village under Hata PS limits in Kushinagar district, had died during treatment at the Gorakhpur district hospital on November 23.He was picked up by the Hata police on November 16 on flimsy grounds. After keeping him in custody for several days where he was allegedly thrashed regularly, Siddhant was sent to the Gorakhpur children’s remand home on November 21 from where he was shifted to hospital.
The deceased was cremated on Wednesday in presence of administrative officials and heavy police force was deployed in Pagra village since Tuesday night.
On Wednesday, DIG Gorakhpur R K Chaturvedi issued suspension orders against SHO Hata Brijesh Verma, SI Anil Singh and two constables.
Despite the suspension orders, the SHO and SI were seen on duty at Hata police station. Kushinagar SP Atul Sharma said, “I’ve signed the suspension orders of SHO Brijesh Verma, SI Anil Singh and two constables. Since panchayat elections are underway, the orders will be complied soon.”
On filing a case against the accused cops, Sharma said: “We have not received any complaint from the family of the deceased so far. Despite this, we have initiated a probe and further action will be taken against those found guilty.”
On the contrary, father of the boy Adya Singh claimed that he submitted a written complaint to sub-divisional magistrate Jagdamba Prasad Gupta at the cremation of his son.
“I gave the written complaint letter against Hata SHO Brijesh Verma and SI Anil Singh for beating my son brutally in the police station where they kept him for four days. The officer told me that he would send me a copy of the FIR to be filed in the evening.”
Adya also showed a copy of the complaint to the media though there was no formal receiving on it.
Kushinagar DM Lokesh M said, “I have inquired that the father of the deceased gave a complaint letter to some other officer and not the SDM. A case will soon be registered against the guilty.”
Meanwhile, Hata SHO alleged that the protection home officials were responsible for the death. “We have not got any complaint letter and the father of the deceased told me that someone thrashed the boy in the child protection house,” he claimed.
Reacting to the charge, Gorakhpur protection home official Samar Bahadur said: “Siddhant was brought to us on November 21 with swelling on his body and was not even able to walk properly. This fact has been registered in the entry register of the home and has been duly signed by the constables who brought the boy.”
Gorakhpur Child Welfare Committee member Mumtaz Ahmad Khan said, “As per law, police can’t keep a juvenile in custody for more than 24 hours. They are required to send the child to child protection home, but in this case the cops kept the child in custody from November 16 to November 21, which is against the law. It seems that something wrong happened somewhere. The case needs to be probed properly.”