Tension prevailed in Jharkhand's Ramgarh district on Sunday as a man, detained on charge of sexually assaulting a tribal woman, was found dead after escaping from police custody, officials said.
The body of Aftab Ansari, who worked at a garment store, was fished out from the Damodar river, they said.
Ansari was beaten up and handed over to the police by activists of a right-wing outfit on July 23. But he managed to escape from custody the next day, they added.
IGP (Bokaro Range) Kranti Kumar Garideshi suspended Ramgarh police station's Officer-in-Charge Pramod Kumar Singh, and three constables for dereliction of duty following the incident, officials said.
SDPO (Ramgarh) Parmeshwar Prasad told PTI that Ansari was detained for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman.
Police said they have arrested a member of the outfit, Rajesh Sinha, who allegedly tried to disturb communal harmony by posting an objectionable video on social media.
Following the arrest, Barkagaon's BJP MLA Roshanlal Choudhary sat on a dharna outside the Bhurkunda police station, demanding Sinha's immediate release.
BJP's Hazaribag MP Manish Jaiswal condemned the arrest, claiming that the victim woman had approached Sinha for help after police failed to initiate any action despite filing a written complaint.
Helping a tribal woman to get justice is not a crime, he said.
"However, under what circumstances Ansari escaped from police custody and was later found dead is an issue of investigation," he said.
"We will submit a memorandum to the DGP, requesting an impartial probe and the release of Sinha," he added.
A Congress delegation, led by the party's state working president Shahjada Anwar, met Ramgarh SP Ajay Kumar and demanded the immediate arrest of those responsible for Ansari's death.
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