Journalism of Courage
A 48-year-old man died after he was called in for questioning at the Charholi police chowkie on Monday afternoon. The family of the deceased,Aslam Razzak Shaikh,alleged torture at the hands of police personnel. The CID is now investigating the matter.
Aslams son Abdul claimed that the police were highhanded during interrogation. My father developed chest pain and asked me to take him to the doctor. He had no history of heart disease, Abdul told The Indian Express.
Aslam was a resident of Charholigaon and owned a salon. According to sources,a couple of years ago,his friend Subhash Gawai asked him for financial help. Aslam reportedly took a loan of Rs 40,000 in his wifes name from Sangharsha Womens Self-Help Group (SHG) and gave the money to Gawai.
However,Gawai allegedly failed to repay the loan. When Aslam started asking Gawai to repay it,Gawai reportedly filed a complaint at the police chowki against him. Police then issued a notice to Shaikh and called him for inquiry. We had issued a notice to Shaikh. Accordingly,he came to the Charholi police chowki with his son. The woman representing the SHG was also present. During inquiry,he started sweating and took ill. His son and relatives rushed him to a hospital for treatment. He died at the hospital, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (zone IV) Sanjay Jadhav.
Abdul said,The police had been repeatedly calling us for inquiry. We had been to the police chowki on Sunday evening. On Monday,we went there again to clear the issue for once and for all. The sub-inspector who was questioning my father got into a heated argument with him and started using harsh words. Due to his behaviour,my father developed chest pain. We rushed him to a hospital,where he was pronounced dead. He had never complained of heart problem before. Aslams body was brought to Sassoon hospital on Monday evening for postmortem.
Aslam is survived by his wife,son and five daughters. One of Aslams daughter recently gave birth.
