FIR yet to be lodged, says kin, after death of man in revenue custody in Budaun

Magisterial inquiry is under way, say police

It has been five days since Brijpal Maurya fell in revenue lock-up of Sahaswan in Budaun district and subsequently died during treatment, but an FIR is yet to be lodged against officials responsible for his ill-treatment during custody, alleged Brijbal’s brother Mahesh Maurya. The police confirmed that an FIR had not been lodged but a magisterial inquiry was under way.

In his complaint to the police, Mr. Mahesh Maurya said his 40-year-old brother, who worked as a distributor of Ayurvedic medicines, was picked up by revenue officials on September 23 from his village Zarifnagar over non-payment of power bill of over ₹80,000 against his shop. Mr. Mahesh Maurya told The Hindu over the phone that the shop did not belong to his brother and that it was a case of ‘mistaken identity.’

“Even if he was in the wrong, he was not supposed to be kept in custody for 11 days and ill-treated. He was dragged by the revenue officials to the police vehicle like a hardened criminal. When he told us he was not feeling well in custody, we pleaded to district officials and local MP Sanghpriya Maurya but nobody came forward to help us. We were not told when he was being taken to the hospital; we were informed after he passed away,” he claimed.

Mr. Mahesh Maurya further alleged that one of the senior district officials was against his brother because Brijpal refused to accept the bill in public. He also underlined that a video of his brother surfaced two days before his death, in which he explained how he was being framed.

Ashok Kumar Tripathi, SSP, Budaun, confirmed that an FIR had not been registered till Tuesday morning but pointed out that a magisterial inquiry had been ordered by the district magistrate. “The post-mortem report says that the cause of death could not be ascertained,” said Mr. Tripathi.

Meanwhile, political parties have jumped into the fray. The Congress and Samajwadi Party have linked the case to the increase in electricity tariff in the State. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted in support of Mr. Maurya and former Samajwadi Party MP from Budaun Dharmendra Yadav visited the deceased’s family. “We are demanding adequate compensation for the family and if the FIR is not registered, we will sit on an indefinite fast from Wednesday,” said Shafi Ahmed, president, Youth Congress, Budaun.

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