Custodial death of a man held for mobile theft sparks outrage in Assam

Guwahati: The Assam police on Thursday suspended the in-charge of a police outpost in North Lakhimpur district of Assam after the custodial death of a 42-year-old man detained in a mobile phone theft case.

The deceased, Arshab Ali, was detained along with four others in connection with a mobile phone theft case and taken to the Khelmati outpost on Wednesday night. He died in police custody in mysterious circumstances.

The news of his death sparked outrage with the villagers laying siege on the outpost and pelting stones at the police personnel before the local authorities managed to pacify the crowd on Thursday. Police also opened fire in the air to control the crowd.

Locals said that the phone was stolen from Bormoria village and the deceased, a barely literate person, happened to purchase it. But the police suggested that the man could have been a member of a mobile phone theft gang.

While two of the people detained were the main accused in the case, the other three — including Arshab Ali — were co-accused as “receivers of stolen property”, said the police, claiming that they had allegedly purchased the stolen phones.

However, the family of the deceased claimed that he was innocent and he was tortured to force him to confess to a crime he hadn’t committed when he died, a relative said.

Assam’s Director General of Police, Gyanendra Pratap Singh said that they have taken the death of the detainee seriously. Taking to social media, he announced several immediate actions.

“Reference death in police custody at Khelmati OP District North Lakhimpur - 1. IC of Khelmati OP has been placed under suspension along with the night sentry. 2. An independent enquiry has been ordered by Addl SP Biswanath. 3. All mandatory provisions of law & directions of NHRC/AHRC are being followed. . DIG NR has been directed to proceed to Khelmati immediately,” he wrote on X.