Shopkeeper arrested for keeping shop open during curfew dies in police custody
Silchar: A shopkeeper arrested by police for keeping his shop open during curfew died in police custody in Assam's Cachar district following which 500 people came out in the streets alleging that he was tortured and demanded action against police personnel, officials said on Saturday.
The grocery shop owner of Koratigram area under Rongpur police station, was arrested along with a customer on Friday evening for keeping his shop open during curfew hours imposed due to COVID-19 restrictions, police said.
The 50-year-old shopkeeper, Babul Banik, complained of breathlessness in police custody and was rushed to Silchar Civil Hospital where doctors referred him to Silchar Medical College Hospital where he was declared dead.
Following his death more than 500 people came out in the area, defying curfew orders, and demanded that the police personnel who had allegedly tortured him in custody be arrested immediately.
Senior police officials, including Cachar Superintendent of Police V C Chandrakant rushed to the spot and assured the crowd that necessary action will be taken after the postmortem report is received.
If any police personnel is found to be guilty of torture, necessary action will be definitely taken, the SP added.
The deceased's wife claimed that he did not suffer from any ailment and had not opened the shop during curfew time but had gone to bring sugar for the family.
The situation though tense in the area was under control, police added.
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No 'bacterial infection' found in bodies of 4 Mumbai family members who died after eating watermelon
Mumbai (PTI): The initial report submitted by the microbiology department of a Mumbai-based state-run hospital has said no "bacterial infection" was detected in the bodies of four family members, who died after consuming watermelon recently, officials said on Wednesday.
The Dokadia family, residents of Ghari Mohalla on Ismail Kurte Road, had hosted a get-together of relatives on the night of April 25. At around 1 am (on April 26), hours after the guests had left, Abdullah Dokadia (40), his wife Nasreen (35), and daughters Ayesha (16) and Zaineb (13) ate pieces of a watermelon.
They suffered severe bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea in the early hours of April 26 and were rushed to a local hospital before being referred to the government-run J J Hospital where all four died during treatment.
After the incident, Mumbai police, forensic experts and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials visited the house and had collected samples of every food item that constituted the family's last meal, including 'chicken pulav', watermelon, water, and other foodstuffs, and sent them to the Forensic Science Laboratory for analysis.
After the post-mortem of the deceased, their viscera was preserved for chemical analysis.
As the probe is underway, the microbiology department of the state-run J J Hospital has submitted its initial report to the police.
"As per the report, no bacterial infection has been detected so far in the bodies of the victims. No bacteria was found in their blood," the official said.
The exact cause of the death will be known once the forensic science lab submits its report, he said.
"The report will also clarify whether any food items consumed by the family members during the day contained anything poisonous," the official said.
