AGARTALA: Tension soared in Sonamura of Sepahijala district on Wednesday following the death of a man in police custody hours after his arrest early on Wednesday morning.
While police claimed that Jamal Hossen (35) of Kalapania village died of cardiac arrest, his family alleged he was murdered in Sonamura police station.
Soures said Jamal complained of chest pain when the police had come to arrest him on charges of robbery and drug peddling on getting information that he was at home.
Sepahijala superintendent of police Krishnendu Chakravorty said, “Jamal was wanted for a robbery case in 2009 and a drug peddling case in 2016. But he was absconding for long. Based on the information that he was at home, police raided the house and arrested him.”
He claimed the the police station was under CCTV surveillance and so far no evidence of custody torture has been found. Moreover, the body does not have any external injury mark. “But the allegations will be seriously investigated,” he said.
The police claimed that he may have suffered from sudden cardiac arrest, as he was being taken to hospital following his complaint of chest pain. Doctors sent him back to custody after medication. However, Jamal’s family alleged that he did not have any history of illness and was murdered by police in custody.
In the morning, he was found lying on the floor of the lock-up and unresponsive. Immediately, he was taken to hospital where the doctors declared him dead, officer in-charge of Sonamura police station Nandan Das claimed.
The victim’s sister, Ajufa Khatun, alleged that her brother was killed in custody, as he refused to go to the police station at night.
“My brother worked in Dubai and came home two two months ago. He was supposed to go back on September 22. Police suddenly stormed our house referring to cases of burglary in 2009 and drug smuggling in 2016 and assaulted him in front of us,” Ajufa alleged.
The CPM has demanded an impartial inquiry into the incident and booked the cops immediately, as the circumstances of the event clearly indicated that Jamal died of torture in police custody. The TMC demanded an inquiry by a sitting high court judge, as the incident has a new dimension of reign terror in the village.
