One Police Sub Inspector, four constables and a civilian have been arrested in connection with the case.
Five policemen in Maharashtra's Sangli district have been arrested for allegedly killing an accused in custody and then burning his body to cover up their crime. One Police Sub Inspector, four constables and a civilian have been arrested in connection with the case.
The accused policemen had claimed that the undertrial in custody, Aniket Kothle, ran away and was evading arrest.
"These men have been accused of murder. Investigation revealed that third degree was used, he was suffocated by immersing his face into water and was hung upside down and was hit hard which resulted in his death," Inspector General of Police, Vishwas Nangre Patil told reporters.
Two men, Aniket Kothle and Amol Bhandare - both in their early twenties - were arrested on November 6 on charges of mobile theft and were produced in court which sent them to police custody till November 10. On the evening of November 6, Aniket allegedly died during interrogation. Following this, the police claimed that both Aniket Kothle and Amol Bhandare fled from custody. An angry mob refused to accept the police's version and surrounded the police station in protest and blocked roads as well.
An investigation by senior police officials revealed that Anmol was still in police custody and Aniket was missing. On further probe, senior officials found out about the death of Aniket in custody and initiated action against the accused cops.
Aniket's brother, Ashish Kothle told reporters, "The police have killed him; it is a cold blooded murder. I have asked for the CCTV footage but they have refused to show me anything, where do we go for justice?"
The case is similar to the Khwaja Yunus incident in 2003 in which the Mumbai Police personnel were accused of torturing and killing an accused in the Ghatkopar bomb blast and then covering it up by stating that he was absconding.