Inquiry into custodial death ordered

Baljit Singh who was picked up by the police on the evening of July 21, on the suspicion of his being a carrier of drugs, was allegedly tortured by the Mour Mandi police, throughout the night. When his condition reportedly deteriorated, he was admitted to a private nursing home in the wee hours of the morning, from where he was referred to the Mour Mandi Civil Hospital, where he died around 10 am.

Superintendent of Police Detective M. S. Chheena told ENS that the postmortum of the deceased was conducted by a three-member panel of doctors of civil hospital, Bathinda and it was video filmed to avoid any controversy on the matter. He said that the National Human Rights Commission was informed about the incident within 24 hours of the occurrence.