On May 19, a man approached a PCR van to complain about being over charged by an auto-rickshaw in East Delhi. Eventually, he got into an argument with police for not acting on his complaint and was allegedly illegally detained by cops at the Ghazipur police station. However, a day later, his body was found in a canal near Ghazipur police station. The deceased has been identified as Rajnikant Sharma.
According to police sources, the incident came to light when Rajeev, Rajnikant’s friend informed Shyam Kishore, Delhi Secretary of the All India Central Council of Trade Union (AICCTU) about the incident.
On May 19, at around 9 pm, Rajeev and Rajnikant had taken an auto-rickshaw from Kaushambi. Both residents of Kondli, they got down near the Ghazipur village bus stand. They were inebriated and got into a heated argument with the auto-rickshaw driver over the fare, said sources.
In the midst of the argument, Rajnikant spotted a Delhi Police PCR vehicle and rushed for help.
He approached the police and complained about the auto driver’s conduct. However, since Rajnikant was drunk, the police did not take his complaint seriously. He kept demanding that the cops should beat up the driver. He further infuriated the police when he sat inside the vehicle and refused to get down. Meanwhile, Rajeev had identified one of cops as Constable Arun.
Apologising on behalf of Rajnikant, Rajeev begged the cops to let go of his friend. However, the cops refused to let Rajnikant go. They allegedly said: “Come to the police station next morning. We want to teach him (Rajnikant) a lesson.”
The next morning when Rajeev went to the police station he was told that there was no person in the name of Rajnikant at the police station. He was further told to check with Kalyanpuri police station. Rajeev then subsequently went to Kalyanpuri, Madhu Vihar and Mandawali police stations but everywhere he was told that no one by the name Rajnikant had been brought there.
Later, in the afternoon, Rajeev along with a friend again went to the Ghazipur police station to enquire about Rajnikant, as the police there had informed him about a constable Arun who was posted at the place where the incident took place. They told him that one Constable Arun was indeed posted there and that he would report for duty at around 5 pm. In the evening, the police personnel told the duo that Rajnikant had indeed been brought to the police station but had fled, said sources.
Police told them that since no case could be made out against Rajnikant he went away on his own. Rajeev found this hard to believe as the previous evening itself, police had refused to let him go when he had pleaded with them.
It was while Rajeev and his friend were returning from the police station at around 7 on Friday evening that they saw a crowd gathered near the Hindon canal. On reaching the spot they learnt that a body had been found floating in it. To their utter shock, the deceased was their friend Rajnikant.
On being contacted by Millennium Post, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (East Delhi), Rishi Pal refused to comment on the matter. Meanwhile, despite repeated calls to the Delhi Police PRO, it could not be verified whether Rajnikant’s death is being investigated as a custodial killing.