The body of the brother of Dharampal, one of the three undertrials who escaped from police custody in Sambhal after killing two constables, was found hanging from a tree outside his village on Tuesday morning. The Sambhal police called it a suicide while the family members alleged that Udaiveer ended his life because of police pressure.
On Tuesday, the residents of Bharatpur village, under the Behjoi police station limits of Sambhal, found Udaiveer’s body hanging from a tree in the jungle outside the village. The police were called in and the body sent for post-mortem.
According to sources, Udaiveer’s wife has alleged that the police was mounting pressure on him to reveal Dharampal’s whereabouts, and that might have pushed him to take his life.
Sambhal Superintendent of Police Yamuna Prasad, however, denied the charge. “He might have succumbed to social pressure. Nobody approached me with charges of mental torture. We are waiting for the post-mortem report,” he told The Hindu over phone.
It has been a week since Dharampal, Kamal and Shakeel made an audacious escape from police custody. The U.P. police had declared an award of ₹2.5 lakh each on their arrest. Last Saturday, Kamal was gunned down by the police in an encounter on Gawan-Sambhal road under the Adampur police station limits of Amroha disrict.
“The hunt is on for the other two. We have increased the area of our search,” Mr. Prasad said.
