Man dies in custody, protesters set police vehicles on fire

A 45-year-old man has died under mysterious circumstances in police custody sparking off a protest by locals who partially torched Barhara police station premises which falls in Bhojpur district.

Ram Sajjan Satva, a resident of Barhara village, died on Saturday after he was allegedly beaten up by policemen following which a crowd gathered outside the police station and pelted stones, injuring several police personnel, District Magistrate Birendra Prasad Yadav said.

"The protesters also entered the police station and torched a portion of it," Yadav said.

 Several vehicles parked outside the police station, furniture and some documents were set afire by the angry mob, the DM said, adding fire tenders were pressed into service to bring the situation under control.

SDO Navdeep Shukla and SDPO Sanjay Kumar along with a team have gone to the village to control the situation, he said.Meanwhile, a medical report has said that Satva died of severe head injuries.

The police had yesterday picked up Satva after his daughter lodged a complaint that her father used to come home drunk and tried to abuse her.Satva's kins have alleged that he was killed in police custody.

Arrah (Bihar): Mob torched Barhara police station partially & set a police vehicle afire over death of a person. pic.twitter.com/XyusM0byL3

— ANI (@ANI_news) March 5, 2017

However, the police have claimed that the victim died after he jumped off the vehicle when he was taken to a government hospital for medical examination.An investigation into the matter has been launched, the DM said.