Diamond polisher dies after suicide attempt in lock-up, 6 cops booked

The police said that Naresh, who was around 30 years old and used to work as a diamond polisher in Surat, was arrested by Circle Police Inspector R N Jadeja of Talala at Gir Somnath on May 22 for allegedly helping his brother-in-law Tarun Rathod (23) kidnap and rape a minor girl from a village in Sutrapada taluka.

After his arrest, Naresh was kept in the lock-up room of Sutrapada police station, which had registered a case against Rathod on February 13. At 11.46 pm on May 22, Naresh allegedly smashed his head against the grill of the room and injured himself, showed purported CCTV camera footage.

In a written complaint, Naresh’s father Jiva Joliya (60) alleged that the policemen didn’t take his son to a hospital in time for treatment and beat him up after arresting him.

However, Gir Somnath SP Manoharsinh Jadeja told The Indian Express, “We soon rushed him to a hospital, first in Sutrapada and then in Veraval. Subsequently, he was referred to a hospital in Junagadh. In the meantime, his one-day police remand ended. So, we produced him in court via video-conferencing and the court sent him to judicial custody. While he was in judicial custody and undergoing treatment, he succumbed on May 24.”

He added that Naresh was arrested for helping Rathod. “Also, Naresh told the court that he had inflicted injuries on himself on his own… Yet, we lodged an FIR as per the complaint filed by his father and have launched an investigation… Due action will be taken against police officers if evidence is found against them,” he said.

When contacted, Jiva said, “Four days after Naresh’s wife Vaishali delivered twins, the police picked up my son from our residence in Bhatvadar, despite him not having committed any offence.”

After Naresh’s death, the family refused to claim his body, alleging he was beaten up and driven to suicide. Eventually, they claimed the body late Thursday after Jadeja, Sutrapada police station’s constable Ila Kamaliya, “PI of Sutrapada police station” and policemen bearing buckle numbers 583, 1081 and 548 were booked. His last rites were performed on Friday morning.

Based on a Jiva’s complaint, the policemen have been booked under sections 34 (criminal act done by several person in furtherance of common intent), 114 (abettor present when crime is committed), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 143 (unlawful assembly), 166A (public servant disobeying direction under law), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 331 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt with to extort confession) and 306 (abettment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code.

Rathod had allegedly escaped from Sutrapada police station on March 29 after he was arrested from Surat.

According to the FIR lodged by Sutrapada police the same day – on the basis of a complaint filed by a woman constable, Kamaliya – Rathod jumped off a window on the first floor of the police station while she was preparing to enter his details in the digital database maintained by police.

“Rathod is still on the run and efforts are on to arrest him… Both Nareh and Rathod have criminal antecedents,” said the SP.

Jiva, however, claimed that Naresh was innocent. “As he did not know that Rathod had eloped with a minor girl, my son invited him for a meal in Surat. Following this, Rathod was arrested… My son had no role in the case registered against Rathod,” he added.