A tale of 2 FIRs: deceased’s family says death due to police beatings; officials point to injuries sustained while fleeing

Police, however, have also registered a counter FIR against Wasim and his family members for sand smuggling. Police also refuted the allegation that they beat up Wasim, and instead claimed that he got hurt while escaping from the cops during a crackdown on sand smugglers in Dhurki area.

Cop booked for murder; didn’t beat up victim, say police

The FIR was registered on April 8 on the complaint of Wasim’s father Mumtaz Ansari who stated that Inspector Krishan Kumar stomped on his son’s chest and also beat him up with the buttstock of a gun “without any reason”.

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The Jharkhand Police have booked a police inspector in the state’s Garhwa district allegedly for murdering a 25-year-old man. The FIR was registered on April 8 after Wasim Sajjad’s father Mumtaz Ansari lodged a complaint, alleging Inspector Krishan Kumar stomped on his son’s chest and also beat him up with the buttstock of his gun ‘without any reason’. Sajjad succumbed to his injuries and was declared dead at a referral hospital in Garhwa.

On their part, the Garhwa Police have registered another FIR against Sajjad and his family members allegedly for smuggling sand. They have also refuted claims that Sajjad died because of injuries sustained during a police beating, and have claimed that he was injured while trying to escape a raid against sand smugglers in the Dhurki area.

Garhwa Superintendent of Police Anjani Kumar Jha said: “There is a murder FIR as per the father of Sajjad’s claim. Our version is that Sajjad’s family has a history of sand smuggling activities and one of their vehicles had also been seized recently and kept at a police station. On April 7, while the police party was conducting checks, they found Sajjad with a tractor full of smuggled sand. On seeing the police party, Sajjad tried to flee and sustained injuries. Both cases are being investigated.”

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A government school teacher, Ansari told The Indian Express that Sajjad worked in a pipeline company in Mumbai and was supposed to leave after Ramzan. Rubbishing the police’s claims, Ansari said on April 7, his son had gone to his grandmother’s home and while returning the police started searching him. He said: “Even if he was smuggling the sand, what right does the police have in taking someone’s life? His body had marks of police’s beating, and his legs were broken.”

Sajjad was one of Ansari’s eight children—three of his sons and three daughters are in school. One of his sons is in Rajasthan’s Kota preparing for the engineering entrance examinations and a daughter got married in March, for which Sajjad had come home.

In the FIR registered at Ansari’s instance, he said, “I received a call at midnight that an Inspector caught my son and that he needs to be taken to a hospital. When I reached the Community Health Centre Dhurki (around midnight) I realised that my son Wasim Sajjad was writhing in pain. My son told me that the police started beating him saying ‘yeh to warranty hai (he has a warrant issued against him)’ with the buttstock of a gun and stomped on his chest with boots, and other police personnel with lathis. Slowly his voice tapered away.”

Ansari said when they reached the referral centre, his son was declared brought dead. He later said there is a case of death due to negligence against Sajjad, which is being heard in a local court but he is not aware of any warrant issued against his son.

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