The death of two people in 16 days in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, has created a political storm. The reason for this storm is that both the deaths occurred in police custody, after which questions are being raised about the working style of Lucknow and the entire Uttar Pradesh police. The government has given a message of action by suspending and transferring the police officers guilty of the case. Also, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath met the family members of Mohit Pandey, who lost his life in police custody two days ago, and also announced help from the government.
After peace in Lucknow, political temperature has risen due to the death of Mohit Pandey. On October 13, Aman Gautam, a resident of Lucknow, and his companion were arrested by police officers in connection with some matter. According to Aman’s family, these same police officers beat Aman, after which Aman died in police custody. Due to this case, there was a huge stir in Lucknow, following which a case of culpable homicide was registered against Constable Shailendra and three other unknown persons.
That night, the police even used batons against the family protesting after Aman’s death. At the same time, Aman’s postmortem report also arrived. In this, it has been stated that the cause of Aman’s death was a heart attack. The Aman death case had not even calmed down when the death of another strongman Mohit Pandey in police custody raised questions about the working style of the entire police department.
What is the case of Mohit Pandey’s death?
Police detained Mohit Pandey in a minor dispute in the capital Lucknow. At 11 pm the police arrested the accused and at 1:30 pm information came to light that his health had deteriorated. He died in hospital during treatment. Now there is a big stir over this death in police custody. It has been reported that the young man lost his life due to a police beating. This case is from Chinhat police station in Lucknow. After this incident, the young man’s family alleges that policemen from Chinhat police station beat Mohit so badly that he lost his life.
Action against police officers charged after Mohit’s death
In this entire matter, a case has been registered against the in-charge of the police station Ashwini Kumar Chaturvedi under section 302. After this he has been removed from this police station. Now sub-inspector Bharat Kumar Pathak has taken charge of the police station. Apart from this, two additional SHOs posted at Chinhat police station have also been removed. It has been decided to remove additional SHOs Shri Prakash Singh and Anand Bhushan Veldar from their posts and post the rank of SO sub-inspector in Chinhat police station. Additional SHO Shri Prakash Singh was shifted to Ashiana and Anand Bhushan Veldar was shifted to Gomtinagar extension police station.
Statistics of deaths in police custody in UP
This is not the first time someone has died in the custody of the UP Police.
- 12 people died between 2018 and 2019.
- Between 2019 and 2020, three people lost their lives in police custody.
- Between 2020 and 2021, eight people died in police custody.
- Even between the years 2021 and 2022, 8 people died in police custody.
- Between 2022 and 2023, 10 people lost their lives in police custody.
And if we talk about this year, that is, 2024, so far more than four people have lost their lives in police custody, of which two cases are in the capital Lucknow. UP politics is burning because of these deaths that occur in police custody. The government is being surrounded.
SP, Congress and BSP attack govt over Mohit Pandey’s death
Politics are hot regarding death in police custody. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said in a post on ‘X’ that the second news of a police ‘death in custody (read murder)’ was received in the capital Lucknow in the last 16 days. The government, expert at changing names, should now change the name from ‘Police Custody’ to ‘Torture House’. Every demand from the victim’s relatives must be attended to, we are with them.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi said police detained two youths in Lucknow and one died the next morning. This is the second death in UP Police custody in a fortnight. Relatives allege police killed their son. UP ranks first in the entire country in terms of deaths in custody. The BJP has established that kind of jungle in the state, where the police have become synonymous with brutality. Where should people expect justice where the guardians of the law are taking lives?
Separately, BSP supreme leader Mayawati attacked the government over the death in police custody and called for action against the guilty police officers and help, including compensation to the victim’s family.
