Dalit man allegedly thrashed by Andhra cops for not wearing mask dies; Police denies role

A Dalit youth in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur district named Kiran Kumar who was allegedly beaten up by Chirala Police on Sunday died at a hospital in Guntur on Wednesday. The family of Kiran Kumar has alleged that the police beat him up badly for not wearing a mask. They alleged that Kiran sustained head injuries due to police beating, which lead to his death.

'Kiran jumped off the police vehicle'

However, District Superintendent of Police Siddharth Kaushal denied the allegations and said that Kiran was drunk and picked up an altercation with a constable.

In a statement, the SP said, "Two persons who were riding a motorcycle were inebriated. The police who were searching the vehicles stopped and questioned them too. But those two people hurled abuses at the police. Sub Inspector Vijay Kumar was taking them to a government hospital for tests. One of those two persons named Kiran Kumar jumped off the police vehicle. At that time, he met with head injuries. The police immediately took him to Guntur Government General Hospital. Later he was shifted to a private hospital. Kiran died while undergoing treatment."

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The DSP denied that the Dalit youth was beaten up by the Sub Inspector. "We are still investigating the case," he added. The SP further said that a case has been filed against SI Vijay Kumar based on the complaint of Kiran's father. There are eyewitnesses for the incident, he said.

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy took serious note of the incident and ordered payment of Rs 10 lakh as compensation to the victim's family, a release said. Guntur Range Inspector General of Police J Prabhakar Rao appointed Additional Superintendent of Police Gangadhar to investigate the incident, which occurred on Tuesday night.

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(With agency inputs)