An accused in the murder of Mohammad Akhlaq, who was lynched by a mob over suspicion of having eaten beef in Uttar Pradesh’s Dadri last year, has died at a hospital in Delhi.
The accused, 20-year-old Robin, who was in judicial custody for almost a year, was taken to a hospital two days ago after he complained of some pain, police said, adding he died due to kidney and respiratory failure.
“He was brought here in a very bad condition, with kidney failure and high blood sugar level, around 12 noon. He died around 7 PM of kidney and respiratory failure,” Medical Superintendent of LNJP Hospital, Dr JC Passey, told Press Trust of India.
Robin’s family has, however, alleged foul play. They say he was beaten up in jail and the jailor is responsible for his death.
Robin was lodged in a jail in Gautam Buddh Nagar district. “He was first brought to the district hospital in Noida this morning from the jail. He was then rushed to a Delhi hospital after his condition worsened,” Station House Officer of Jarcha Police Station, Pradeep Kumar Singh said.
A post-mortem will be conducted tomorrow to determine the exact cause of death. Since Robin died in judicial custody, a judicial enquiry will be set up.
He was one of the 18 accused in the Dadri lynching case; three of the accused are out on bail.
Mohammad Akhlaq’s neighbour had claimed that Akhlaq and his son Danish were seen beating a calf on September 26. He alleged that they had said then that the calf was attacking people. Later, a petition said, a villager saw Akhlaq holding down the calf while his brother killed it.
Danish was also beaten brutally by the mob when the family was attacked two days later. The terrorised family left the village and are living in Delhi, along with Akhlaq’s older son, an Air Force technician.
