Theft accused found dead in Dhemaji lock-up; family alleges foul play

Dhemaji, Mar 31: An accused  from Jonai Bazar in Dhemaji district, who was arrested in a theft case, was found dead on Sunday morning inside the lock-up at the Jonai Police Station.

The individual has been identified as Imran Ali, aged 25. The accused man was picked up from the Abor Leku area near the Assam-Arunachal border on Saturday evening and kept in the police lock-up.

The police were supposed to produce him before the judicial magistrate at Jonai on Sunday, but he was reportedly found dead inside the lock-up at around 9 am when the police went to escort him to the court.

Meanwhile, the police, after completing official formalities, have sent the corpse to Dhemaji Civil Hospital for autopsy.

However, Imran Ali's family members have claimed that they talked to the deceased on Saturday night and even at around 8 am on Sunday morning and got the impression that he was in sound health.

Sometime later, Imran's elder brother Ibrahim Ali took some food to the Jonai Police Station for consumption by the former. However, Ibrahim was then informed by the police that this brother had been found dead inside the lock-up.

Imran's family members have alleged that he was killed by the police inside the police station. They have demanded a high-level probe into the mysterious death of Imran Ali.

This incident of custodial death has created a great sensation in the Jonai area. Several people of Jonai Bazar gathered at the Jonai PS on Sunday morning and staged a protest by shouting slogans against the police and demanding of the authorities to institute a high-level probe into the incident.

Earlier, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma during the state budget session on March 24, informed that at least 48 individuals died and 152 sustained injuries in the custody of Assam Police between May 2016 and December 31, 2024.

According to a report presented by the chief minister, he highlighted that the highest deaths occurred in 2021, where 27 people lost their lives from police bullets, followed closely by 26 in 2022.

The third-highest toll was in 2016 when police firing killed 16 people. While in 2023 twelve individuals were killed by police firing, and the corresponding numbers for the following years were – in 2024, 8 people died; 7 in 2018; and 3 in each of 2017, 2019, and 2020.

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