In a case of an attempted police cover-up, a 25-year-old man first fell to death under mysterious circumstances from the terrace of the Adarsh Nagar police station following which some policemen allegedly dumped his body elsewhere to pass it off as an unidentified corpse.
Six policemen, including the Station House Officer of the police station, an Assistant Sub Inspector and four constables, have been booked for committing culpable homicide not amounting to murder and suspended till the probe is completed.
Fruit seller
The family of the deceased, Sompal, claims he sold fruits at the Azadpur wholesale market.
According to the police, Sompal was picked up and brought to the police station for questioning on December 28 following a PCR call about a quarrel.
The sequence of events from his arrival at the police station to his death is being probed, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (North West) Milind Mahadeo Dumbere.
“The accused policemen claim that he was being questioned at the investigating officers’ room and was left alone for a few minutes which provided him an opportunity to rush to the terrace and jump. We are verifying these claims,” Mr. Dumbere said.
Body dumped
Followed the death, the body was dumped on Shah Alam Bandh Road by Inspector Sanjay Kumar, the SHO, and constables Kuldeep, Surender, Indraj and Sulender, according to the FIR. The name of the Assistant Sub Inspector, the sixth accused, was not revealed. The complaint was filed by a sub-inspector of the same police station.
The complaint said this was a bid to destroy evidence so that the incident is not recorded as a case of custodial death. A few hours after the death, a PCR call was made about an unidentified body lying near the Majlis Park metro station. Constable Kuldeep was assigned to respond to the call. Sompal was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead.
“We followed the standard procedure for identification and he was identified as Sompal, a resident of C block,” the FIR said.
On December 30, a whistleblower from the police station alerted the Assistant Commissioner of Police of the Model Town sub division. The matter was communicated to senior officers and all the staff members were questioned.
Mr. Dumbere said the accused admitted that they had indeed disposed off the body, flouting procedures, following which legal and administrative action was initiated.
Family’s reaction
But it was not till Sunday that Sompal’s family found about his death, they said.
“Around 2 p.m. a police team reached our house and asked for his picture. When we inquired, they told us that he had been arrested. It was only after coming to the police station that we found out about his death,” said Sompal’s brother.
According to the police, Sompal had a criminal record and had been booked for robbery, theft and assault in the past.
