A 45-year-old fruit vendor, Mohammad Irfan, died in police custody in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, on January 20, triggering protests by his family and local residents outside the Raisatti police outpost, as they accused the police of torturing Irfan and denying him timely medication, which they claimed led to his death.
However, the police denied these allegations, asserting that they provided Irfan with medicine and took him to the hospital as his condition worsened, stating that he may have passed away on the way.
The Sambhal Superintendent of Police, Krishan Bishnoi, suggested that Irfan’s death appeared to be caused by cardiac arrest, dismissing claims that Irfan was denied medication as baseless, and emphasizing that the police chowki in charge had given Irfan his medication.
Bishnoi further clarified that Irfan was accompanied by his son when he was taken to the hospital, and he assured that the exact cause of death would be determined through a post-mortem examination.
Irfan, who was the sole breadwinner of his family and left behind a wife and five children, had a history of heart problems, having recently undergone surgery. His 18-year-old son, Afnan, claimed that four policemen, led by Raisatti police outpost in-charge Jitender Kumar, arrived at their house around 12:30 pm on January 20 to question Irfan about a family dispute.
Afnan alleged that the officers verbally abused the family and physically assaulted his father, and when his family tried to intervene, the police forcibly took Irfan to the outpost, despite their pleas.
Afnan also claimed that, as his father was a heart patient, he needed to take his medication at a specific time, but the police prevented him from doing so, which he believed contributed to his father's worsening condition. Afnan followed his father to the police outpost and found him lying on the floor, breathing abnormally, and Irfan died in his arms.
After attempting to get medical assistance nearby, Afnan was told that his father had already passed away, and he then returned to the police outpost, where he was instructed to go to the hospital, where Irfan was declared dead.
The incident has led to political outrage, with Samajwadi Party MP Zia-ur-Rehman Barq saying that this was not the first instance of police brutality in Uttar Pradesh, citing several similar cases. According to data from the Union Home Ministry, Uttar Pradesh accounted for 21.2% of all custodial deaths between April 2020 and March 2022, the highest proportion of any state in India.
In response to Barq’s comments, the Sambhal police issued a statement on social media, claiming that Irfan had been provided with medication by the police, and when his condition deteriorated, he was taken to the hospital with his son.
They further stated that Irfan may have passed away on the way, a claim they supported with CCTV footage from the police post. The police warned Barq that legal action would be taken if he did not delete his post, urging him to refrain from spreading rumours and to cooperate with the authorities to maintain law and order in the district.