Pregnant woman dies during police raid

FAIZABAD: A 22-year-old pregnant woman died under mysterious circumstances during a police raid against illicit liquor traders in Barabanki district on Sunday night. While her family claimed that cops thrashed her to death, police said she died of a heart attack.On Sunday night, a police team raided a house in Mankapur area as a part of a crackdown on illegal country-made liquor, said residents. While the male members fled, the victim Ruchi -a dalit of the Rawat community -couldn't escape as she was at an advanced stage of pregnancy .Ruchi's family alleged that cops beat her with sticks suspecting that she was hiding illicit liquor. “No one in our family is involved in illegal liquor manufacturing. They raided our house only on suspicion.We ran away in fear but when on hearing Ruchi's cries, we and other villagers rushed back, but by then they had already killed my wife,“ said her husband Arvind Rawat, who works in a poultry farm.Police, however, refuted the allegation claiming that she died of a heart attack.Circle officer Susheel Singh said, “We arrested three persons from the village on charges of manufacturing country-made liquor. We learnt that a woman has died and residents are accusing police for her death. But according to our information, she died of a heart attack.“