IPS officer suspended after Chhattisgarh man dies in jail, family alleges police torture as political storm brews

Prashant Sahu was one of 69 people arrested on Sunday after a mob set fire to the house of deputy sarpanch of Loharidih village, Raghunath Sahu, resulting in the latter’s death.

On Monday, Prashant was sent to judicial custody, and on Wednesday, he was taken to hospital with injuries and was pronounced dead before admission.

Speaking on the issue on Wednesday night, Home Minister Vijay Sharma said, “He died in jail and a judicial inquiry has been ordered. He was checked a day ago for an injury to his hand and his X-ray was normal… A postmortem has been done and viscera was sent for forensic test. Report is awaited. Prima facie, as per jail record, some accused had injuries on their bodies and villagers also said some were beaten on instructions of seniors.”

He said Additional SP Vikas Kumar, a 2020-batch IPS officer, was suspended in connection with the incident. Officials said Kumar had led the team that arrested Prashant.

Rs 10-lakh compensation has also been announced for Prashant’s family.

Congress leader and former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel met the family on Thursday during Prashant’s last rites.

In the presence of reporters, Prashant’s mother told Baghel: “The police beat us mercilessly in the police station. They beat me on my head, legs, and back, and blood has swelled in my head. Both policemen and policewomen beat us… We were asking for water but they did not give us water. They also beat up villagers in jail. Action must be taken against them.”

After this, Baghel uploaded videos on social media, showing injury marks on Prashant’s body, and called for a bandh in the district.

According to officials, the issue that led to the arrest of Prashant and others began after one Kachru Sahu was found hanging at Bijatola village in Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh.

A senior police officer said, “Kachru was facing debts, but rumour spread that Raghunath Sahu, a deputy sarpanch of Loharidih village, murdered and hanged Kachru… After this, a mob was mobilised that set Raghunath’s house on fire Sunday.”

While a police team led by Kabirdham SP Abhishek Pallav rushed to the spot and rescued four members of his family, Raghunath went and hid on the top floor of the house and died in the fire, police said.

Following Raghunath’s death, police booked over 150 people and arrested 69 of them, including Prashant Sahu.

After meeting Prashant’s family Thursday, Baghel said: “The Chief Minister should immediately sack the Home Minister. The SP should be dismissed immediately. A team of doctors should be constituted to conduct the postmortem of Kachru Sahu again. CCTV footage of Rengakhar police station should be retrieved. The incident should be investigated by a sitting judge of the High Court, and the State Women’s Commission should investigate the atrocities against women.”