A Dalit youth allegedly died in police custody after being picked up by personnel for not having a mask and helmet on in Chirala town, Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh. After Y Kiran Kumar died while being treated for a head injury in a private hospital in Guntur on Tuesday, the police registered a case of death in police custody (Criminal Procedure Code section 176).
Kumar's parents claim that he was beaten up by the police for not wearing a mask. However, Prakasam police said that he jumped out of the jeep on the way to the Town Police station, which led to a head injury. The police has denied that the youth was beaten up by the sub-inspector.
After the incident, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the alleged victim's family.
According to Prakasam Police, Kumar and his friend Shini Abraham were riding a motorcycle without a mask on July 18. Upon being reprimanded by constable Rami Reddy at the Kothapeta check-post, the "inebriated" duo created a ruckus and allegedly beat up the constable, Police said. When sub-inspector Vijay Kumar was informed of the incident, he took them into custody, police added.
After the constable's complaint, a case was registered against the duo under IPC Sections 353,188,269 and r/w 34 IPC, Sec 185 of Motor Vehicles act and Section 51 of Disaster Management Act. While the blood sample of Kumar has been sent for testing, Abraham was tested by a breath analyser.
A case against the sub-inspector has also been registered on a complaint by Kumar's father Mohan Rao, under IPC Section 324.
SP of Prakasam District Siddharth Kaushal said that there was "absolutely no manhandling of the youth by Police." According to him, both youth were heavily inebriated and driving a bike. "They were stopped by the police at a check-post and asked to get into the police vehicle. He said that Abraham is one of the witnesses to the incident.
"One of them (Kiran Kumar) jumped out of the jeep while it was moving and received a major head injury. His hair fell off too," he said, adding that the PME report states that his death was due to a head injury, and that "no other injuries or proofs of being physically hit" were there. Kaushal has handed over the case to Darsi Deputy Superintendent of Police for an impartial probe en ordered. Abraham is one of the witnesses to the incident," SP Sidharth Kaushal told the Pune Mirror publication.
Meanwhile, the Additional Superintendent of Police Gangadhar was been appointed as special enquiry officer by the Guntur Range Inspector-General of Police J. Prabhakar Rao. Gangadhar is expected to carry out a comprehensive inquiry into the case, as directed by CM Reddy.
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