Tension gripped Janipur area here today after a 50-year old rape accused was found dead under mysterious circumstances in police custody.
As per sources, police had arrested the accused, a resident of Janipur, Jammu, on February 2 in connection with a rape case lodged by the family of a minor girl.
Sources said that accused was in ten-day police remand. “Today at around 3.00 AM the accused complained of uneasiness in the lockup at Janipur police station,” sources said.
“The accused was subsequently taken to Government Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead,” the sources claimed.
“A medical board of doctors conducted the post-mortem and his body was handed over to his family for last rites,” the official said.
Earlier, the relatives of the deceased took to streets in Janipur and blocked the road by burning tyres as they demanded an inquiry into his death.
Meanwhile, District Magistrate, Jammu Kumar Rajeev Ranjan has ordered a magisterial probe into the death of the accused and asked the inquiry officer to submit his report within four weeks.
“It is a matter of concern that the death has occurred during the police custody and it becomes mandatory for this office to ascertain the cause of death of the accused person,” Ranjan said in his order.
The DM appointed Mohammad Alyas Khan, Sub Divisional Magistrate, Jammu-North as Enquiry Officer and directed to conduct probe within four weeks.