Man set afire: Son says cops forcing him to withdraw case

Police said they had been conducting a free and fair investigation into the matter.

The family of 55-year-old Uday Chand,who was set ablaze allegedly by two Delhi Police constables,on Tuesday claimed that they were being pressured by police to withdraw their complaint.

Chands son Naveen told Newsline that some policemen woke him up at night,dragged him out of his house and asked him to withdraw the complaint against the two officials. They came to me around 2 am,dragged me away from my family and asked me to withdraw the complaint. They told me that I should forget what happened and care about my future. They clearly accepted that their staff was at fault,they admit it but they just want to settle the matter, he said. I called the DCP but did not get any response from him. They came to me today and told me that they were giving me one night to think it over. They said they would return at 6 am tomorrow and that I should make up my mind, he said.

On the contrary,police said they had been conducting a free and fair investigation into the matter. A case of attempt to murder and extortion was registered against the two constables on the day the incident took place. A detailed statement of the victim was recorded before the Sub Divisional Magistrate on the day of the incident,police said.

Police have also recorded the statement of six eyewitnesses including a woman who said Uday Chand poured petrol on his body and set himself on fire. The eyewitness said he saw Uday Chand running towards the spot where two trucks were parked and then in a few minutes they saw him in flames shouting for help, a police officer said.

Another of the six eyewitnesses told police that he burnt his hands while trying to douse the fire by covering Chands body with his jacket. He told police that policemen were not present when the incident took place.

Police have recovered a half-burnt jacket of the eyewitness and

a bottle that smells of petrol from the spot.

We suspended the two constables with immediate effect. The bottle of petrol and the half-burnt jacket have been sent to FSL for examination. Also,we have recorded the statement of the six eyewitnesses. Most of them said the constables did not set Uday on fire. We cannot ignore their statements. We have proof to substantiate charges of extortion against the two officers, a senior officer said.

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