REJECTING a plea for extension of their remand, a local court sent the five policemen arrested for alleged custodial deaths of Prakash Lunagariya and Shaktisinh Zala alias Pendo, to judicial custody on Monday after advocate of the accused opposed the police plea. The Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) of Rajkot city police produced the five policemen of Thorala police station in the court of chief judicial magistrate MS Soni as their four-day police custody ended on Monday. The DCB sought extension of custody of Thorala police inspector Sukhvinder Singh Gadu for a week. The DCB also sought further remand for seven days of police sub-inspector SB Solanki and constables Anilsinh Gohil, Chetansinh Gohil and Hitesh Parmar. However, the court rejected the DCB application and sent the policemen to 14-day judicial custody. Watch What Else Is Making News While ACP MJ Solanki who is investigating the case was not available for comment, advocate of the accused policemen said that the investigating agency did not have valid ground for further custodial interrogation. The five were arrested by the DCB on Thursday in connection with a complaint lodged by Lunagariya’s father Devraj. Lunagariya (35), a resident of Drangadhra in Surendranagar district and Pendo (18), a resident of Rajkot city, had died in hospital on January 1. Thorala police had claimed that the duo were killed in a brawl that ensued among them and their other three-gang members over sharing Rs 5,700 that they had robbed from a man the previous night on the bank of Aji river in Thorala area. But Devraj filed a police complaint alleging his son and Pendo were beaten to death by police. Meanwhile, the DCB has recovered the stick which was allegedly used to beat the victims and a rope which was used to tie legs of the two men.
