Engineering student on way home from party ‘beaten to death by policemen’ in Bhopal

Constables Santosh Bamaniya and Saurabh Arya have been suspended in connection with the alleged incident, and further action will follow after the post-mortem report is received, Bhopal Zone 2 Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Vivek Singh said.

Udit’s father is an employee at BHEL, and his mother is a teacher. His brother-in-law is posted as a DSP in the Balaghat anti-Naxal unit.

His friends said they went to a party in Indrapuri on Thursday night, after which one of them was going to drop Udit back home in a car at around 1.30 am when police spotted them. The friend said seeing police, Udit ran into an alley and was chased down by two policemen.

The friend said, “I got a call from Udit at around 11 pm. He said let’s go for a party. I was in Awadhpuri then. Udit called me to Indrapuri, so I reached there. We all partied together. After some time, I was going to drop Udit. As soon as I put the keys in the car, a policeman came. Udit got scared and ran towards a dark street. Two policemen ran after him and caught him.”

He said he then heard “sounds of fighting”, and that when the friends reached the spot, Udit’s “shirt was torn and his body was covered in marks, especially on his head”.

The friend said that he helped the injured Udit into the car and two other friends tried to reason with the policemen, who he alleged were demanding Rs 10,000. “When in the car with me, Udit just asked for the AC to be turned on and for him to be given some water. He did not mention any pain. He vomited two to three times on the way… Then his hand went limp. We checked for a pulse, but couldn’t find one. We immediately took him to AIIMS,” his friend said. Doctors at the hospital declared him dead.

DCP Singh said, “Details will be clear after the post-mortem report is received. Statements of family members are being recorded. The case is being probed by a City Superintendent of Police-level officer.”