Two cops suspended after man ends life in police custody in Chhattisgarh's Balrampur

Balrampur: Two cops have been suspended after a 30-year-old man called for questioning over his missing wife died allegedly by suicide in police custody in Chhattisgarh’s Balrampur district, an official said on Friday.

Guruchand Mandal allegedly hanged himself with his scarf inside the toilet of the Balrampur police station on Thursday.

According to the suspension order, issued late on Thursday night, Mandal was summoned to the police station and was being interrogated based on suspicion and evidence in connection with his missing wife.

Prime facie, negligence was found on the part of inspector and Balrampur police station in-charge Pramod Rusiya and constable Ajay Yadav. They were suspended with immediate effect, it said.

Mandal’s wife went missing last month following which he filed a complaint on September 29 at Balrampur police station, the official said.

Principal District and Sessions Judge Ashok Kumar Sahu has ordered a judicial enquiry into Mandal's death.

After learning about the incident, a large number of people reached the police station on Thursday and ransacked vehicles parked there. Police had to use force to disperse them, officials said.

The opposition Congress slammed the ruling BJP over the state’s "deteriorating" law and order situation.

Chhattisgarh is “burning” under BJP rule and law and order has collapsed, claimed state Congress chief Deepak Baij.

“Such incidents are due to the failure of the BJP government. The situation is tense in Balrampur as locals pelted stones at the police station. The state government and the administration are responsible for it.

“We condemn the incident and demand a high-level probe into it. The Congress has constituted an eight-member committee to investigate the incident,” Baij added.