Nagpur: Acting tough over the alleged custodial death of 35-year-old physically challenged Manoj Haribhau Thawkar, Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar has placed three cops, including a Police Sub-Inspector (PSI), under suspension.
The suspended policemen are PSI Mukesh Dhobale, NPC Namdeo Charde and PC Ashish Shahane.
According to reports, the three cops had intercepted Thawkar at the nakabandi point when he was trying to flee on July 7. Later, he died after allegedly being beaten-up by police at Pardi Square on the same day.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is conducting an inquiry into the matter and has so far collected the relevant CCTV footage of the incident from Pardi Police Station, spot of incident and the private hospital where Thawkar was declared brought dead before admission.
Deceased Thawkar, a resident of Sharda Chowk, was physically-challenged. Thawkar was riding a Honda Activa (MH-49/AF-5111). When the policemen signalled him to stop, he accelerated the two-wheeler. As a result, a cop who tried to catch the bike sustained serious injuries as he was dragged for several feet with the vehicle. An eye-witness had alleged that the cops had then beaten-up Thawkar and took him to the police station. While sitting in the police station for two-hours, Thawkar suddenly collapsed. He was taken to the private hospital where doctors declared him dead.
The doctors, who performed the autopsy, had kept their opinion reserved. The viscera samples were preserved for forensic analysis. Thawkar’s death had triggered protests in the hospital premises and also in his locality on Wednesday night. The protesters demanded stern action against the cops responsible for his death. A huge police posse was deployed in the Pardi area to prevent any untoward incident after the body was handed over to his relatives for the last rites.
On Sunday, the Union Minister Nitin Gadkari met the Thawkar family and extended his support.
