Kanpur businessman death: Murder case filed against 6 cops, no arrests yet

A case of murder was filed against three identified and as many unidentified policemen on Wednesday in connection with the death of a 38-year-old Kanpur-based property dealer during a late-night raid at a hotel in Gorakhpur.

While all cops involved in the raid have been suspended, none has been arrested so far.

The FIR has been filed at Ramgarhtal Police Station, Gorakhpur, under IPC section 302, on Ramgarhtal SHO Jagat Narayan Singh, sub-inspectors Akshay Mishra, Vijay Yadav and three other unidentified policemen.

“Policemen have been suspended and an FIR has been lodged against them under relevant sections. ADG/DIG/ SSP Gorakhpur have been directed to take action against the guilty after the investigation,” UP police tweeted on Wednesday night.

An India Today report said the post-mortem reports of the businessman Manish Gupta revealed grievous beating marks on his body – on the right arm, wrist, middle of the head and the left eyelid.

The autopsy report said an injury in the middle of his head could have led to his death.

Police had earlier claimed that Gupta sustained injury to his head as he fell on the ground in an inebriated state while the police team was searching the premises of Krishna Palace Hotel.

Gupta’s wife Meenakshi, however, in a complaint has alleged that the cops had misbehaving with him and when he objected they had assaulted him, causing him grievous injuries that led to his death.

Meenakshi also wrote to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, seeking the trial to be held in a fast-track court. She has also demanded a government job and a compensation of ₹50 lakh. She has also demanded the sacking of all the policemen involved in the raid.

The family has refused to cremate the body until proper action is taken against the involved policemen.

A video circulated online showed Gorakhpur SP Vipin Tada and District Magistrate Vijay Kiran Anand persuading Gupta’s family not to file a case, while assuring that thee investigation will be ‘unbiased’.

The family, which resides in the Burra area of Kanpur has been promised a compensation of ₹10 lakh.

Meenakshi’s brother Saurabh, also a businessman, said, “They told us to give them 45 days to conduct an internal inquiry. They said if the officers are found guilty, a case will be lodged.”

SP Vipin Tada said that the police did not have any enmity with Gupta and his friends. “They (the suspended policemen) will not be reinstated till they get a clean chit,” he said.

Chief Minister Adityanath is slated to meet the bereaved family on Thursday.

Samajwadi Party leader Akilesh Yadav, who visited Gupta’s family, called the death a “barbarity by police” and said “the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh has given birth to a culture of encounters”.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi tweeted that the “police is soft on criminals and barbaric with the common people.”