Uttar Pradesh: Agra SSP transferred 3 days after Dalit man’s death in custody

AGRA: Three days after the alleged custodial death of a Dalit sanitation worker, Arun Valmiki, Agra’s senior superintendent of police (SSP) Muniraj G was transferred to the state election cell in Lucknow on Saturday.

Valmiki, who was accused of stealing Rs 25 lakh from city’s police station ‘malkhana’, allegedly died after police interrogation.

Muniraj was replaced by Azamgarh superintendent of police Sudhir Kumar Singh barely seven months after he took charge of Agra.

Besides Muniraj, 13 more IPS officers were also transferred on Saturday.

After Valmiki’s death on Tuesday night, five policemen, including the police chowki in-charge and an inspector of the crime branch, were suspended and an FIR was lodged against “unidentified cops” under IPC section 302 (murder).

Earlier, after the theft was first reported, six policemen had been suspended for “negligence”. Family members alleged Valmiki’s death was due to “torture” by police personnel during interrogation though the post-mortem report revealed the cause of death was a heart attack.

The case triggered a political row with opposition hitting out at the BJP-led government in the state and demanding justice for the family. The UP police also transferred the investigations of the case to Aligarh range police to maintain transparency in the probe.

Courtesy : TOI

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