A 35-year-old Dalit man died inside a police station in Madhya Pradesh’s Dewas district on Saturday (December 28, 2024), prompting protests by family members and political parties on Sunday (December 29, 2024) alleging murder by the local police.
According to the police, Mukesh Longre died on December 28 when he was called to the Satwas police station to record his statements after a woman from his village gave a written complaint against him on December 26.
Dewas Superintendent of Police Puneet Gahlot told The Hindu that Longre was not in police custody at the time of the incident but was recording his statement in the inquiry room before the station in-charge Ashish Rajput.
“Since the complaint had been given by a woman, the station in-charge was himself handling the case. When he went out of the room to attend to another matter, Longre used his gamcha (scarf) to hang [himself] through a window. As soon as the staff members saw him, he was freed immediately and rushed to the local CHC,” Mr. Gahot said, adding that he was declared brought dead.
Judicial probe
The SP said that as soon as the matter came to light, senior officers were immediately rushed to Satwas. “Since the man was inside the station premises, we followed all the guidelines of the NHRC [National Human Rights Commission] in cases of custodial deaths, such as sealing the room and informing the district judge for a judicial probe,” he said.
Mr. Gahlot also said that Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Nandani Uikey was appointed on Saturday (December 28, 2024) evening to conduct a judicial probe and the district judge also named a three-doctor panel for the post-mortem. “We also called in a forensic officer from Ujjain for the inspection of the spot and the station in-charge was also suspended late on Saturday (December 28, 2024) night,” he said, adding that all the CCTV footage of the station was also taken into possession by the judicial probe team. Ms. Uikey and the forensic team visited the spot on Sunday (December 29, 2024) morning and are currently probing the matter.
Murder allegations
Meanwhile, Bhim Army workers and family members of the deceased have alleged a murder by the local cops.
Mr. Gahlot said that the Bhim Army activists put forth three demands: a judicial probe, punishing the culprits, and financial compensation for the family. “Two of their demands have already been met and we have informed the higher authorities regarding the compensation,” he said.
On Sunday (December 29, 2024) afternoon, State Congress president Jitu Patwari also staged a protest outside Satwas police station and issued a demand to Chief Minister Mohan Yadav that all staff members of the station be suspended and a compensation of ₹1 crore be given to the kin of the deceased.
Mr. Patwari alleged that the police officers had “demanded a bribe from Longre and he was murdered due to a delay in the bribe money”.
Political influence
Mr. Gahlot said that the family had not alleged any such thing initially and had only refused to allow a post-mortem. “These demands and allegations have only come up after they came in contact with some politicians. We have informed them that a judicial probe is underway and the Additional SP (Rural) is separately investigating the bribery allegations. They agreed to the post-mortem after this, which was conducted on Sunday (December 29, 2024) night,” he said.
Another police officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that there were six criminal cases against Longre, adding that the same woman had also complained to him in August. “The recent complaint was that he had abused and threatened her and her husband in a drunken state,” the officer said.
Published – December 29, 2024 11:04 pm IST
