'Advised Admission at AIIMS But Taken to Police Stn': Doc's Version Amid Cops vs Fam in Delhi Man's 'Death in Custody' Case

A 32-year-old man died in police custody following a scuffle between two parties in a road rage incident in northwest Delhi’s Adarsh Nagar area. Family members of Suraj Prakash, the victim, alleged that he died due to a beating by the policemen.

The incident happened on Monday after police responded to a road rage scuffle around 2.30 am near the Adarsh Nagar Metro Station on the road going towards Jahangirpuri.

According to a senior police officer, a patrol party responding to the scuffle tried to break the fight, but the two parties continued to fight, forcing the staff to call an emergency response vehicle from the Adarsh Nagar Police Station.

As the ERV came to the spot, everyone but three people stayed there including Suraj Prakash who were taken to BJRM Hospital, Jahangirpuri, for a medical examination around 4 am, the officer said.

After the three were brought to the police station for legal proceedings, Suraj Prakash suddenly fell sick. He was again rushed to the BJRM hospital, where he was declared brought dead, the officer said.

A brother of the Majlis Park resident on Monday told reporters that Suraj Prakash was killed by the police.

“My brother was killed by those policemen. He was passing the area when he saw two people fighting. When he tried to intervene in the matter, one of the policemen hit him with a stick and asked him to leave. My brother took out his mobile phone and started making a video of the scene. The policemen saw this and attacked him,” the brother alleged.

He alleged that six to seven policemen were present on the spot and they all were drunk. Police said a judicial inquiry into the matter is being carried out in the matter.

A report in Indian Express, however, quoted police as saying that they did not hit Prakash and took all injured persons to the BJRM Hospital in Jahangirpuri.

Senior officers said a preliminary inquiry revealed that despite multiple injuries on Prakash’s body, he was discharged within minutes. “He suffered injuries to his head, back, and hands,” said a senior officer.

The report quoted a doctor from the hospital on condition of anonymity: “We had seen his injuries and asked the police to shift him to Safdarjung or AIIMS. We don’t understand why they took him to the police station.”

The hospital’s medical superintendent Dr Digbijoy Dutta, meanwhile, said he is looking into the matter.

(With inputs from PTI)