LUCKNOW: A flour mill owner, Kedar Singh, 52, allegedly died after being tortured in police custody in Agra district on Thursday afternoon. The incident sparked public outrage, with protesters blocking the Yamuna Expressway for nearly two hours.Taking swift action, Uttar Pradesh government on Friday suspended three sub-inspectors posted at the Kabis police outpost and initiated a departmental inquiry against them. Additionally, the in-charge of Dauki police station was sent to police lines for dereliction of duty.According to police sources, Kedar Singh, a grain mill owner from Garhi Hisia village, had been summoned to the Kabis police outpost as a witness in a forgery case. His widow, Chandrakanta, alleged in her complaint that her husband, who was neither an accused nor a complainant, was brutally assaulted at the police station, leading to his death.”Four cops from Kabis station came to our house and forced my husband to accompany them at around 2.45 pm on Thursday. He went to the police station on his motorbike with a police constable riding pillion. The police personnel started beating up my husband the moment they left the village. At the police outpost, they stuffed his mouth with cloth and thrashed him again. Our grandson, Aakash, 16, who was present at the Aadhaar centre opposite the outpost, saw four policemen rushing an unconscious Kedar Singh to the hospital in a hired vehicle. He told us about the incident, and we rushed to the SN Medical College, where doctors pronounced him dead upon arrival,” Chandrakanta stated in her complaint to Agra Police Commissioner J Ravindra Gaud.Following the incident, a heavy police force, along with personnel from the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), was deployed at Garhi Hisia village when Singh’s body was handed over to his family after the autopsy. The police officers facing action include Shivmanagal Singh, the investigating officer of the forgery case; Siddharth Chaudhary, head of the Kabis police outpost; Sub-Inspector Ram Sevak; and Tarun Dhiman, in-charge of Dauki police station.Chandrakanta has demanded that a murder case be registered against the accused policemen, but the police have yet to file an FIR. Meanwhile, Atul Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), East Zone, Agra, assured that a thorough investigation would be conducted into the allegations.”A departmental inquiry has been ordered against the cops, and they will face strict legal action if found guilty. The autopsy of Kedar Singh was conducted by a panel of doctors, and the process was videographed on Friday to rule out the possibility of any foul play on the part of the police,” Sharma said.Presenting the police’s version, Sharma added, “Kedar Singh and two others were called at Kabis police outpost in connection with a pending case of forgery and fraud. His condition deteriorated at the outpost, after which he was rushed to the medical college, where he was declared dead. Doctors said he died of a heart attack.”
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