Man dies during raid in UP’s Bijnor: police say he fell while fleeing; kin claim murder

The victim, Shahzad, 40, came from Tibadi village, under Dhampur police station’s jurisdiction, and died after falling from the terrace of a house in Kotwali Dehat police station area, police said on Saturday.

According to police, a team had gone to detain Shahzad following a case of criminal intimidation, registered by village pradhan Shabana on August 28.

According to police, Shahzad had gone to Rahmulla Colony in Kotwali Dehat area on Thursday evening to meet his ailing sister — Dhampur police got information about his presence there and went to detain him.

While many local residents alleged that the police opened fire at Shahzad, based on a video that has emerged on social media, Bijnor police have denied this. The police said in a statement: “As soon as Shahzad saw the police team, he ran…and fell down, due to which he died. The postmortem was conducted by a panel of doctors; videography/ photography was done. According to the [autopsy] report, the man died due to head injury. Information about [him] being shot is wrong. There was no firing by police.”

Bijnor police, the statement said, deny “news that the deceased died due to gunshot”.

Commenting on a video that has emerged online, showing some policemen purportedly leaving an injured Shahzad behind, an officer said the policemen concerned neglected their duty of taking the injured to hospital. “For this [negligence], the Superintendent of Police has suspended Sub-Inspector Anil Kumar, Head Constable Manoj Kumar, and Constables Ankit Rana and Vijay Tomar with immediate effect,” the officer said.

Police said Additional SP (Rural) has been tasked with the investigation and directed to complete it in seven days and send a report.

On August 28, an FIR was registered at Dhampur police station under IPC sections 341 (wrongful restraint) and 506 (criminal intimidation) on a complaint by Shabana, pradhan of Tibadi village. She alleged that Shahzad had threatened to kill her.

According to an officer, Shahzad’s relatives have said that Salman, a relative of the village head, was present at the site during Thursday’s police raid and allegedly hit Shahzad with a brick, which led to his fall, and eventual death. “On the family’s complaint, a case has been registered under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) at Kotwali Dehat police station,” the officer said.

The four named in the FIR are Shabana’s husband Shameem Ahmad, one Jameel Ahmad, and the village pradhan’s relatives Salman and Afsar. “All four are on the run. We have formed teams to arrest them,” an officer said.