A 38-year-old man arrested in connection with an ATM hacking case died in police custody at West Agartala police station in Tripura in the early hours of Sunday.
Sushanta Ghosh, a resident of Lankamura in West Tripura, was arrested by cyber crime branch of Tripura police on Saturday in connection with ATM hacking case in Agartala.
He was sent to two-day police custody on Saturday by a local court.
Police said Ghosh was found hanging inside the lavatory of the custody at 5:05 on Sunday morning.
A police official claimed that Ghosh went to the lavatory at 3:54 AM and never came out.
“Later, a sentry guard found him hanging in the lavatory,” he said.
Tripura Human Rights Organisation (THRO) president Purushottam Roy Barman alleged Ghosh’s death was a case of custodial torture.
“We don’t have any doubt that this might be a case of custodial torture and death. Police are most likely trying to frame it as hanging. We don’t have any faith in police inquiry on a crime probably perpetrated by them. So, we demand a judicial inquiry on the issue,” Roy Barman was quoted by Indian Express as saying.
Chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb has ordered a magisterial probe into the incident.
“The district magistrate will investigate the case and if anyone found guilty, will not be spared,” Deb said.
Earlier in October last year, a 19-year old boy accused of theft died in police custody in Tripura’s Gomati district.
Mangal Das died in Radhakishore Pur police station on October 31 last year.
Mangal’s mother Arati Das had alleged that her child was tortured by the police when he was in custody.