Youth dies days after release from police custody, protests erupt in Bengal's Dholahat

Kolkata, July 9 (IANS) Tension erupted in Dholahat in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district as hundreds of people assembled in front of a police station on Tuesday following the death of a local youth four days after he was released on bail.

The man, identified as 22-year-old Abu Siddik Halder, died late Monday night.

The local people and the family members alleged that the deceased youth died because of the injuries he received from being beaten up by police while he was in custody. The victim’s father has submitted a written complaint to the office of the district police superintendent accusing the cops at Dholahat Police station of beating up the victim while in custody which ultimately led to his death.

On Tuesday morning hundreds of local people, mostly women, assembled at the police station and started protesting. The crowd became quite aggressive at one point in time and tried to enter the police station. The huge police contingent present there had a tough time keeping the aggressive crowd at a distance from the entrance gate of the police station.

It is learnt that the victim was arrested by police on June 30 on charges of stealing jewellery. The family members alleged that during the period of custody, he was beaten up in phases by the cops, which was evident from his injuries that were visible while he was presented to a district court on July 4.

He was granted bail on that day and was sent to a local hospital, where he was released after some primary treatment.

The victim’s mother Taslima Bibi claimed that his condition started deteriorating when he came back home, following which he was shifted to a hospital in Kolkata. Later he was admitted to a private nursing home for detailed treatment.

However, he died late Monday night and the information surfaced at Dholahat on Tuesday morning which triggered protests in front of the police station.

Till the time the report was filed, there was no reaction from the district police in the matter.