Labourer dies; friend says cops beat him for flouting lockdown

A labourer died after returning

home in Mumbai's Dongri area on Saturday night, following which his roommate alleged that the victim was beaten by police for violating the coronavirus-enforced lockdown.

However, the police denied the allegation and said the labourer died due to a heart ailment.

The J J Marg police have registered an accidental death report in the matter.

Victim Sagir Jamil Khan's roommate claimed that after returning home on Saturday night, Khan told him that while he was driving a handcart to deliver a refrigerator in Null Bazar locality, the police caught hold of him at Phoolwali Galli in Dongri and thrashed him on head, hand and back.

 

Later, while having dinner, Khan suddenly collapsed. He was then rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him dead, his roommate told reporters.

However, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 1, Sangramsingh Nishandar told PTI that Khans medical report showed the cause of death as 'heart enlargement', and there was no external or internal injury on the body.

"The CCTV footage of the street shows him passing by at quite a distance from the spot where there was police nakabandi. The allegations against police are false and baseless," he said.

But, the viscera will be sent for a medical examination and the body will be handed over to his relatives for last ties, the official said.

Last month also, relatives of labourer Raju Velu Devendra alleged that he was beaten to death by police personnel enforcing the lockdown in Nehru Nagar area.

However, police refuted the allegations and claimed the deceased was lynched by residents of the area while he was attempting a robbery.

The police had then registered a case against eight people for murder and rioting.