Labourer dies in Mumbai; friend says police beat him for violating lockdown
A labourer died on Saturday night after returning home in the Dongri area of Mumbai, whereupon his roommate claimed police beat the victim for violating the coronavirus lockdown. The police denied the claim, however, and said the labourer had died because of a heart attack.
Updated: Apr 19, 2020 18:32 IST
|Niranjani Jesentha Kumari Prabagararaj
|Roommate of Victim Sagir
The J J Marg police reported a complaint of accidental death in the matter.
The roommate of Victim Sagir Jamil Khan reported that after returning home on Saturday night, Khan told him that while driving a handcart to deliver a refrigerator in the locality of Null Bazar, police caught him at Phoolwali Galli in Dongri and thrashed him on his head, hand and back.
Later, Khan unexpectedly collapsed while having dinner. He was then taken to a hospital, where he was declared dead by doctors, reporters told his roommate.
Sangramsingh Nishandar, Deputy Police Commissioner, Zone 1, however, told PTI that Khans' medical report revealed the cause of death as 'heart enlargement' and that there was no external or internal injury to the body.
The street's CCTV footage shows him going by quite a distance from the location where there was police nakabandi. Police accusations are baseless and unfounded,' he said. But, for a medical examination, the viscera will be sent, and the body will be handed over to his relatives for last ties, the official said.
Last month, labourer Raju Velu Devendra's relatives alleged he was beaten to death by police forces enforcing the Nehru Nagar area lockdown. Police, however, denied the claims and reported that residents of the area lynched the deceased while he was attempting a robbery.