Parbhani (Maharashtra), Dec 16 (IANS) The provisional autopsy report of a Dalit man who died in judicial custody in Parbhani has stated that he succumbed to ‘shock following multiple injuries’, as the district observed a peaceful bandh to protest the incident here on Monday.
The autopsy of Somnath Vyankat Suryavanshi, 35, was conducted at the Government Medical College in Aurangabad this morning and his body was brought back to Parbhani for the last rites which were performed under tight police security this evening.
Many areas of Parbhani town and district observed a peaceful shutdown (bandh) on Monday after the alleged accused in last week’s violence — after a statue of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar was desecrated — died under mysterious circumstances in judicial custody on Sunday.
Earlier, the Parbhani Police claimed that the arrested accused Suryavanshi was admitted to a hospital following chest pains, but the provisional post-mortem report has raised fresh questions, and senior leaders of Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) plan to visit the district soon.
Rattled by the incident on the eve of the Maharashtra Legislature Session which got underway in Nagpur on Monday, the Parbhani Police deployed tight security measures to ensure a peaceful shutdown.
The state-level bandh call was given by Republican Sena President Anandraj Y. Ambedkar, his elder brother and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) President Prakash Y. Ambedkar, other Dalit parties/groups including Republican Party of India (A) President and Union Minister Ramdas Athawale, Republican Party of India (K) chief Sachin Kharat, Communist Party of India (M) leaders Ashok Dhawale and Uday Narkar, also supported.
However, Suryavanshi’s supporters, Dalit parties plus the MVA allies Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Sushma Andhare, Nationalist Congress Party (SP)’s Dr Jitendra Awhad and Congress leaders have pointed fingers at the law enforcers alleging he was brutally thrashed by the police after he was picked up and succumbed to his grave injuries — as the provisional post-mortem report has said.
“The custodial death of Somnath Suryavanshi — a Bhim Sainik belonging to the Wadar community — in Parbhani is gut-wrenching, sickening and intolerable to say the least. What is more deplorable is that his death happened in judicial custody despite his bail application being approved,” said a grim Prakash Y. Ambedkar, who visited the town on Monday.
On December 10, an unidentified person vandalised a copy of the Constitution in the hands of Dr. Ambedkar’s statue outside Parbhani Railway Station, sparking tensions that degenerated into massive violence for the next couple of days.
Subsequently, the perpetrator of the act was identified as one ‘disturbed’ person named Sopan Pawar.
Post-violence, the Parbhani Police swooped down and booked or arrested around 300 locals, mostly Dalits including Suryavanshi, who was nabbed on December 12 and died in judicial custody barely in 72 hours.
Slamming the incident, Union Minister Athawale urged Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to order a thorough probe into the custodial death, dismissal of the concerned police officials, a compensation of Rs 25 lakh for Suryavanshi’s family, and withdrawal of police cases filed against all the accused in last week’s violence, and sparing those people who were not involved in the mayhem.
–IANS
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