Five police officers in Bihar’s southern Nawada district were on Monday booked for murder after an alleged custodial death of a man whose body was found abandoned four days after he was picked up by the police. The FIRs were lodged after chief minister Nitish Kumar ordered a probe.
The unexplained death of Manoj Yadav had led to mob fury and pelting of stones on the Nawada district magistrate’s residence on Sunday. Thousands of people had clashed with the police, holding them responsible for the alleged custodial death, and set fire to a policeman’s motorcycle and injured two policemen. Dozens of people were also hurt in the police lathicharge as Section 144 had to be imposed on the town.
Mr Yadav was picked by policemen from Nawada’s Town police station on Wednesday in connection with the murder of jeweller Sanjay Verma. He was held in detention at the police station lockup for four days, as per his father, Dayanand Yadav, who said he saw the cops had been severely beating up his son. Yadav’s body was found thrown on an agricultural field. “When I reached the police station with lunch for my son on Saturday, the policemen drove me away and did not let me meet him. They had been beating him up badly throughout the three days,” said Dayanand Yadav.