AMN / NEW DELHI
National Commission for Minorities has issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh Government in connection with the death of a youth in Police custody in Kasganj District of the state.
Talking to the media in New Delhi, the Chairman of the Commission Iqbal Singh Lalpura said that the notices have been issued to the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police yesterday and an explanation has been sought from them in the case. He said, they have been asked to submit the report within 15 days.
Mr Lalpura said that after receiving the report, the Commission will decide on visit to Uttar Pradesh to ensure that no discrimination takes place against anyone on the basis of religion.
22 year old youth Altaf who was called for questioning at Kasganj police station in Kasganj district of Uttar Pradesh in a kidnapping case had reportedly committed sicide in lockup.
According to police, Altaf, 21, had strangulated himself using a string from his jacket hood in the washroom of the police lock-up.
“One Altaf (of Nagla Syed locality) was called for questioning in Kasganj police station in a case related to IPC section 363 (kidnapping) and 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing a woman to compel her marriage) on Tuesday morning,” narrating the sequence of events, Superintendent of Police, Kasganj, Rohan Pramod Botre said on Wednesday.
During interrogation, he requested the policemen to go to the washroom and was allowed to use the washroom inside the lock-up. “He was wearing a black colour jacket. He tried to strangulate himself with a string on the (jacket) hood that he tied to the tap of the toilet. When he did not return for some time, the policemen went inside and found him unconscious. He was rushed to the community health centre, Ashok Nagar in Kasganj, where he died,” the SP added.
Postmortem of the victim is being conducted, he said, adding that five policemen have been suspended for negligence in the wake of the incident.
“The lax policemen will be punished. We have suspended five policemen in this connection,” he said.
However, Altaf’s family members alleged that he was killed by police inside the lock-up.
Highlighting the priorities of the National Commission of Minorities, the Chairman said that it is working towards ensuring education and providing employment opportunities for minorities. He said, scholarships are being provided right from primary education to higher education for the people belonging to the minority communities. Mr Lalpura also informed that easy loans are also being provided to these communities on a low interest rate to start their business through concerned agencies.