Additional District Magistrate Anil Kumar said District Magistrate Mangla Prasad Singh has ordered a magisterial probe into the death of Kamji Gond, a resident of Gaighat village, who allegedly died after being assaulted by police.
Kumar told PTI on Thursday that he has begun the inquiry and invited anyone having evidence or statements related to the case to submit them within a week. He has been directed to submit the inquiry report within a week.
Gond died during treatment at the Trauma Centre of Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi on the night of July 10.
Based on a complaint lodged by his son Vishal Gond, Revati police on Sunday registered an FIR against sub-inspector Sachin Saroj, constable Ankit Singh, village head Ashutosh Shankar Singh, Suraj Kannaujia, one of his relatives and Manish Yadav under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to murder and other offences.
Sub-inspector Saroj and constable Singh were suspended immediately after the FIR was registered, while Revati Station House Officer Raj Keshar Singh was transferred to the police lines.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) said a 14-member delegation, constituted on the directions of party president Akhilesh Yadav, will visit Gaighat village on July 17 to express condolences to the bereaved family and ascertain the facts surrounding the incident.
According to SP district spokesperson Sushil Pandey, the delegation will include Ballia MPs Sanatan Pandey and Ramashankar Vidyarthi 'Rajbhar', former Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and party national secretary Ram Govind Chaudhary, Scheduled Tribe Cell national president Vyas Ji Gond, Ambedkar Vahini national president Mithai Lal Bharti.
The party said it stands firmly with the victim's family and will continue its democratic struggle to ensure justice and strict action against those responsible.
The Congress on Wednesday evening held a candle march in Ballia town demanding justice for the victim and raising other demands related to the case. The march began from the railway station premises and culminated at Shaheed Chowk.
District Congress president Umashankar Pathak said the party would continue to fight at every level to secure justice for the bereaved family.
Separately, delegations of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation and the Communist Party of India visited the victim's family on Wednesday and demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident.
In the FIR, Vishal Gond alleged that Saroj and Ankit Singh came to his house on the afternoon of July 8 and took his father, Kamji Gond (42), to the police station while he was asleep.
He alleged that his father was assaulted inside the police station under pressure from village head Ashutosh Shankar Singh. Later that evening, the village head and his driver, Manish Yadav, allegedly took Kamji to a brick kiln, assaulted him again and abandoned him in a nearby orchard.
Vishal also stated in the FIR that although the post-mortem examination was conducted at BHU, he was not satisfied with the findings of the autopsy conducted by the authorities.
