Two constables have been arrested by the Delhi Police Crime Branch in connection with the killing of a 50-year-old man who was burnt to death while protesting against an alleged extortion bid on his son by the two last Saturday.
Following the incident in which the victim, Uday Chand, had sustained close to 90 per cent burns, constables Rajkumar and Surender, both posted in Neb Sarai police station, were booked for an attempt to murder and suspended from duty. They were, however, not arrested.
On Wednesday, Chand succumbed to his injuries at Safdarjung Hospital after which his family members and others protested outside the hospital alleging police inaction. The case was subsequently transferred to the Crime Branch.
Case of murder?
Both were arrested on Thursday after being questioned by the Crime Branch officers. Investigators said they would have to analyse some more facts to ascertain if it was a fit case for slapping Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code on Rajkumar and Surender. The police said it could seek the custody of the two accused to corroborate the facts.
The accused are learnt to have told the police that Chand had immolated himself. However, the victim’s family members have maintained that they had poured petrol on Chand and set him afire when he expressed his inability to pay the extortion amount for parking of his son Navin’s auto-rickshaw under their jurisdiction.
A group of auto-rickshaw drivers on Thursday morning staged a protest outside the Delhi Police headquarters situated at ITO leading to traffic chaos.
