Shravasti (UP), Sep 23 A 46-year-old man died after allegedly falling from a police vehicle while he was being taken to a police station along with five women during an official action over a land dispute in Shravasti district, officials said on Wednesday.
The administration has suspended a lekhpal and a revenue inspector for prima facie negligence and initiated departmental proceedings against them.
A three-member committee headed by the Additional District Magistrate (Finance and Revenue) has also been constituted to conduct an impartial inquiry into the incident.
The incident took place on Tuesday in Siswara village under Gilaula police station in Ikauna tehsil, officials said. A revenue team led by a naib tehsildar, accompanied by police personnel, had reached the village on the directions of the Ikauna sub-divisional magistrate following a complaint regarding a land dispute between two groups.
According to a joint statement issued by District Magistrate Annpurna Garg and Superintendent of Police Rahul Bhati, some people allegedly attempted to obstruct government officials during the action. To maintain law and order, five women and Kamlesh Kumar, 46, a resident of Madarpurwa Purushottampur, were being taken to the police station in a government vehicle.
Additional SP Chandrakesh Singh told PTI that the naib tehsildar had gone to the spot with the revenue team on the SDM’s directions, while police personnel were present to maintain law and order. He said that after the alleged obstruction of government work, the five women and Kamlesh were being taken to the police station when Kamlesh allegedly opened the vehicle’s door and jumped out.
Kamlesh suffered serious injuries after falling from the vehicle and was taken to the Gilaula community health centre. He was subsequently referred by doctors to the Joint District Hospital in Bhinga, where he died during treatment, the police said.
The Additional SP said the inquiry committee headed by the ADM (Finance and Revenue) comprises an SDM and a circle officer.
“If any police personnel are found guilty in the inquiry, action will also be taken against them,” he said.
The deceased man’s family, however, has rejected the police version that Kamlesh jumped from the moving vehicle and alleged that he was pushed out by police personnel.
Kamlesh’s sister-in-law Ratna Devi, nephew Sunil Kumar and daughter Khushboo alleged that their family had been litigating over the land for around 16 years and that a stay order of the High Court was also in force in connection with the disputed property.
The family alleged that despite the stay order, the other side was carrying out construction on the disputed land and that revenue and police personnel assaulted members of their family who opposed it. They claimed Kamlesh was also severely beaten and was bleeding from his mouth.
The family further alleged that after Kamlesh was put inside the police vehicle, he was pushed out while the vehicle was moving and expressed apprehension that his condition had already become critical inside the vehicle.
Another administrative official said the inquiry committee would examine the entire sequence of events, the role of the revenue and police teams and the circumstances in which Kamlesh fell from the vehicle.
Additional police personnel have been deployed as a precautionary measure, officials said.
(PTI News)
