Dera follower shot dead in Punjab's Faridkot, incident caught on CCTV
Chandigarh (PTI): A Dera Sacha Sauda follower, who was an accused in a 2015 sacrilege incident, was shot dead on Thursday by five unidentified assailants in Punjab's Faridkot district, police said.
Pardeep Singh was opening his dairy shop in Kotkapura when he was shot dead and the incident was caught on a CCTV camera installed nearby, they said, adding his gunman also sustained bullet injuries.
Singh was one of the accused in a case of theft of a 'bir' (copy) of the Guru Granth Sahib in 2015 in Faridkot and was currently on bail.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann appealed for peace, and said no one will be allowed to disturb peace in the state.
Punjab is a peace loving state where mutual brotherhood of people is very strong...No one will be allowed to disturb the peace of Punjab Strict instructions to the civil and police officials to maintain the peace and tranquillity in the state, said Mann in a tweet.
Speaking to reporters, Inspector General of Police (Faridkot Range) Pradeep Kumar Yadav said police have got some leads and are working on them.
He said the assailants will be arrested soon.
Police were also examining the CCTV footage of the incident which showed that the five had come on two bikes.
The sacrilege incidents in Faridkot in 2015 had triggered protests in the district.Two persons were killed in Behbal Kalan while some people were injured at Kotkapura in Faridkot after police fired at protesters in October 2015.
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two women disciples at his ashram in Sirsa, where the dera is headquartered. He was convicted by a special CBI court in Panchkula in August 2017.
Big Breaking: Ram Rahim Dera follower Pradeep, named in FIR number 63 in Bargadi sacrilege case, was shot dead by unknown bike riders today morning when he was going to open his shop. He was also nominated in the case of theft of Guru Granth Sahib Ji from Burj Jawahar Singh Wala. pic.twitter.com/t8xBZPqWBS
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SHO, others booked on murder charge after man dies in police custody in Lucknow
Lucknow, Oct 27: Police on Sunday lodged an FIR on charges of murder and criminal conspiracy against the SHO of Chinhat police station here and others after the family of a 30-year-old man, who died in police custody, alleged that he was beaten to death by the cops, officials said.
The incident evoked a strong reaction from the opposition parties, with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav saying "the term police custody" should be changed to "torture house", while senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra alleged that the "BJP has established such a jungle raj in the state where police have become synonymous with brutality".
A resident of Jainabad in the Chinhat area here, Mohit Kumar was arrested in connection with a case on Saturday. He died at a hospital while in custody following which his family members alleged police brutality as the cause of his death, police said.
Taking note of the complaint lodged by the victim's mother, an FIR under sections 103 (1) (Punishment for murder) and 61 (2) (criminal conspiracy) of the BNS has been registered against inspector Ashwani Chaturvedi, Station House Officer at the Chinhat police station, and others including some unidentified persons, Additional Commissioner of Police Vibhuti Khand Radha Ram Singh told reporters on Sunday.
A detailed probe is on into the matter, he said.
The exact cause of death will be ascertained after the post-mortem which will be videographed, the officer added.
A CCTV clip went viral on social media purportedly showing the victim lying in the lockup. The family members of the deceased accused the police of deliberately leaking only a small portion of the footage to save their back, claiming that Kumar was beaten to death by the cops.
According to the police, Kumar was rushed to a community health centre after he became unwell at the police station. From there he was referred to a bigger facility where he died, they said.
However, Shobharam, the victim's brother who claimed he was also taken into custody before being released later, alleged that the police mercilessly thrashed Kumar in front of him and sent him to the hospital only after he died.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday slammed the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh over the incident.
"This is the second news of death (read murder') in police custody in the last 16 days in the Uttar Pradesh capital. The government, which is an expert in changing names, should now change the name of 'police custody' to 'torture house'. Every demand of the victim's family must be met. We are with them," Yadav said in a post on X.
Reacting to the incident, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in a post on X in Hindi, said, "In Lucknow, UP, the police detained two youths and one died the next morning. This is the second death in UP police custody in a fortnight. The family alleges that the police murdered their son."
"Uttar Pradesh ranks first in the country in terms of deaths in custody. The BJP has established such a jungle raj in the state where police have become synonymous with brutality. Where the lawkeepers themselves are taking lives. From whom should the public expect justice? " she said
Earlier, a 24-year-old man died in police custody after being arrested during a raid on a gambling den in Lucknow.
While Aman Gautam's family had accused the cops of beating him to death, police denied the allegations.
According to officials, a team of police personnel conducted a raid on Ambedkar Park in Sector 8 of Vikasnagar on October 11 night following reports of gambling activities.
"Two individuals, including Aman Gautam (24), were apprehended and taken into custody," Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) Jitendra Kumar Dubey had said on October 12.
"While being transported to the police station, Aman's condition deteriorated, and he was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival," the officer added.
Aman died due to police beatings, his family has alleged.
Meanwhile, spokesperson of the UP Congress Uma Shankar Pandey said, "The brutal murder of businessman Mohit Kumar in the lockup of Chinhat police station in Lucknow is extremely serious and infuriating."
"The family members are saying that the police have committed the murder under pressure from the ruling party," he claimed.
