Dalit youth cremated amid tight security

The mortal remains of a 23-year-old Dalit youth, whose alleged custodial death had sparked angry protests here, were today consigned to flames.
Lucky Kumar was cremated amid tears and angry sloganeering after his postmortem examination was done at Jalandhar and also video graphed in the presence of Phillaur Judicial Magistrate Kanwar Varinder Kaur who is conducting judicial probe into the incident.
A large number of people, accompanying the body, resorted to angry sloganeering before the cremation here.
Slogans against Government Railway Police and its Phagwara Post's suspended incharge ASI Pawittar Singh were raised when the body was brought to the deceased's residence in local railway colony here from Jalandhar.

Slogans were also raised at the 'Bhua Dhamri' cremation ground on Phagwara-Hoshiarpur road before the cremation.
Protesters demanded arrest of Pawittar Singh and set a deadline of two days and threatened agitation in case he is not nabbed by Thursday.

Lucky's father Inderit Kala, a sweeper at local railway station, lit the pyre.
A large number of police force, headed by Phagwara SP Rajeshwar Singh Sidhu, were present as a precautionary measure.
Lucky was arrested on February 21 in a theft case.
Police said that a case was registered against Lucky on the complaint of IPS officer Sarguna Shukla, who is posted in Jammu and Kashmir and was returning to her hometown Patiala by the Navyug Express on February 20.

Her bag containing two mobile phones, an i-Pad, 70 grams gold chain and Rs 6,000 cash were stolen on February 20 here, they said.
"These items were recovered from Lucky. However, he escaped from police custody when he was being shifted from Phagwara to elsewhere and died under a train near Goraya," police said.
However, protesters and Lucky's parents alleged that he was killed in police custody.
Pandemonium had prevailed at the local railway station here yesterday for about three hours as protesters had disrupted rail traffic and vandalised rooms and offices to protest the alleged custodial death of Lucky.

GRP local incharge ASI Pawittar Singh was booked under Section 306 of the IPC (abetment to suicide) and placed under suspension.
Singh was replaced by ASI Satish Kumar who today took over as GRP post incharge here.