Victim’s family alleges inaction in Agra custodial death as no FIR yet

A departmental inquiry was also initiated against them.

The family in its complaint had demanded that the officials responsible for Singh’s death be charged with murder. Singh was summoned to the Kabis police outpost in connection with a forgery case in which he was a witness, according to the police.

The officer in-charge of the Dauki police station was sent to the Police Lines over alleged negligence in duty. The suspended SIs are Kabis police outpost incharge Sidharth Chaudhary; Shivmanagal Singh, the investigating officer (IO) in the forgery case and Ram Sevak.

Devendra Singh, the eldest son of the deceased, said, “We were told by the police to file a complaint, which we have done twice. The officers are delaying the FIR, even though their primary responsibility should be to ensure justice for the family.”

“Our father was merely a witness in the case. He was brutally beaten up. Once at the outpost, the police continued to assault him while stuffing his mouth with a cloth. He ultimately died as a result of torture. We demand that the officers responsible be charged with murder. We also request a compensation of Rs 1 crore and a government job for one either my elder brother or me,” said Gajendra Singh, the younger son of the deceased.

Agra Police Commissioner J Ravinder Gaud said, “His postmortem report stated that he died due to heart attack and the body had no injury marks. The postmortem was videographed. We are investigating the charges in the complaint by his family members and will lodge the FIR once we conclude our inquiry and find laxity on the part of the police at any stage. Action has already been taken against four officers in this regard.”

On Thursday, Kedar Singh’s death had sparked a public outrage, with the local laying a siege to the Kabis outpost and blocking of the Yamuna Expressway for about two hours.

According to the police, one Ashok Kumar of the village had filed a forgery complaint in November 2023, accusing seven people, including the gram pradhan (village head) and some employees of the local SBI branch, of creating a fake Kisan card in his name and one of them availed a loan of Rs 7.18 lakh.