Family of Dalit ‘marijuana dealer’ in UP alleges police assault killed him, demands action

Family stages protest at Grand Trunk road in Naurangabad Monday, claim Ravi Kumar died shortly after a police raid on his house Sunday night during which he was allegedly assaulted.

Representational image of police personnel | PTI File photo

New Delhi: The family of a Dalit man in Uttar Pradesh has accused the police of causing his death by assaulting him during a house raid Sunday night.

Twenty six-year-old Ravi Kumar, who was suspected of being a marijuana supplier, was allegedly beaten and kicked in the chest during a raid on his house. The family claimed he had a heart attack shortly after and died.

Further, the family alleged that police had taken money during the raid.

Kumar’s body has been sent for an autopsy.

The family Monday blocked the Grand Trunk road in Naurangabad in protest, demanding action against the police personnel.

Kumar is survived by his wife, a five-year-old son and a seven-year-old daughter as well as two younger brothers. His father is a farmer.

Speaking to ThePrint, Superintendent of Police, S.P. Kuldeep Singh Gunawat, Aligarh (city) said, “We have taken the allegations into account and the investigation is on. His family has said that he died due to a heart attack, triggered by police assault. Only an autopsy will confirm his injuries.”

“The police reached the deceased’s house immediately around 9 pm after we received information about his death,” he added. No FIR has been registered so far.

The matter is under Gandhi Park Police Station.

‘No injury marks on body’

A senior police officer investigating the matter, requesting anonymity, told ThePrint that there are no “prima facie injury marks on Ravi’s body”.

“In fact, as far as we know, he wasn’t even at his home during the raid. It might have been that he was too scared of the police due to his own illegal activities,” the officer added.

According to the police, Kumar had been arrested multiple times in the past for supplying drugs and was only recently released on bail in a case registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

“The station in-house, Yogesh Tiwari, had come to our house last night with seven to eight policemen for a raid around 7:30 pm. They beat him (Kumar) up and one of them kicked him on his chest. Immediately after the police left, he died. The police have killed him. He was declared ‘brought dead’ at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical hospital,” Kumar’s sister-in-law Richa told ThePrint.

“We want justice. Ravi did illegal things but police took money from him … why beat him to death then? We want financial support from the government now. Who will look after his children,” Kamala Singh, Ravi’s cousin said.