4 cops booked over death of Dalit man in police custody in Lucknow

Lucknow: Two days after a 24-year-old Dalit man arrested during a raid on a gambling den died in police custody here, an FIR has been registered against four policemen in connection with the case, officials said on Sunday.

The family members of the deceased, identified as Aman Gautam, alleged that he was beaten to death by the cops on Friday night, a charge denied by the police who claimed Gautam died due to a heart attack.

Based on the complaint lodged by the deceased’s family, an FIR has been registered against Constable Shailendra Singh and three other policemen.

In her complaint, Gautam’s wife Roshni alleged that her husband was sitting at the Ambedkar Park in Vikas Nagar on Friday night when a police team reached there and started thrashing and abusing Gautam, who fell unconscious and was taken to a hospital by the cops.

She also alleged that Shailendra Singh was the main person behind the assault on her husband along with three other policemen.

The police, on their part, claimed that a raid was conducted at the Ambedkar Park on Friday night following reports of gambling activities.

"Two individuals, including Aman Gautam, were apprehended and taken into custody. While being taken to the police station, Gautam's condition deteriorated. He was rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival," Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) Jitendra Kumar Dubey said on Saturday.

"According to the postmortem report, no visible injuries were found on the body and the cause of death was found to be heart attack (cardiogenic shock),” a police statement said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, politics over the Dalit man’s death is heating up in the state with Azad Samaj Party MP Chandrashekhar Azad and Samajwadi Party MP R K Chowdhury calling on the victim’s family on Sunday.

While Chandrashekhar demanded Rs 50 lakh compensation for the kin of the deceased along with strict action against those found guilty, his demands were echoed by Chowdhury who was accompanied by party spokesperson Anurag Bhadauria.

On Saturday, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati expressed grief over Gautam’s death and demanded action against the guilty policemen.

"The death of a Dalit youth, who had gone for a walk in Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Park in Mohalla Ganjraha Purva of Uttar Pradesh's capital Lucknow, due to police brutality yesterday evening is extremely sad," she said in a post on X in Hindi.

People are angry due to this incident and the government should take strict action against the guilty policemen, the former chief minister said.