Ranchi: In a case of police brutality, a Muslim youth breathed his last at a hospital in Ranchi after he was allegedly beaten tortured by police in Narayanpura Police station in Jamtara in Jharkhand.
22-year-old Minhaj Ansari, a native of Dighari village under Narayanpur police station, was picked up by police along with two others on October 3 on charges of posting provocative texts in a WhatsApp group.
According to local police the objectionable message posted on October 2 had the potential to trigger communal tension in the region. On October 4 the police released two others and continued to detain Ansari.
The two people who were released bore the marks of police torture throughout their body. They informed that Ansari had lost his eyesight in the custody due to police torture. When the family members of Ansari rushed to the station, the cops told them that he was ill and taken to a local hospital in Narayanpura.
When the family members reached the local hospital they came to know that Ansari’s condition was extremely critical and he was already taken to the government hospital in Jamtara town. As his condition continued to worsen he was again shifted to Dhanbad for treatment on October 5.
The next day Ansari’s family members rushed to Dhandbad. However, Narayanpura SHO Harish Pathak reportedly denied them a chance to meet the victim. This led to a scuffle between Pathak and family members of Ansari.
On October 7, Ansari was again referred to Ranchi Institute of Medical Science, where family members were allowed to meet him. After seeing Ansari his mother almost fainted. As per reports in local media, his eyes were wide open and he could not see anything. His spine and legs were broken.
Mohammed Ilyas, a family member, said that Ansari did not respond when his parents called him. On October 9 doctors pronounced him dead.
A tense atmosphere prevailed in Dighari after the incident. Meanwhile, the family members of Ansari revealed that police have warned them that if any form of protest takes place in the region they would be held direct responsible.
They next day two senior police officers visited the aggrieved family and them that action would be taken against the police. They also announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the deceased’s family. “Minhaj has a one-year-old daughter. What use is Rs 2 lakh, when you have killed her father,” asked Ilyas.
(Agencies)
