Six Sangli cops suspended for beating suspect to death

Six policemen have been suspended for allegedly beating to death a 26-year-old man arrested for robbery. Sub-inspector Yuvraj Kamte and five other staff members of the Sangli city police station have been taken into custody, Vishwas Nangre-Patil, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kolhapur range, said on Wednesday. The deceased, Aniket Ashok Kothale, had been remanded in police custody for three days. Kothale and his accomplice Amol Bhandare had been arrested by the Sangli police for robbing an engineer, Santosh Gaikwad, of ₹2,000 and his mobile phone. The incident occurred on Sunday morning when Mr. Gaikwad was waiting at the Sangli depot for a bus to Nandani village in Shirol taluk. Brutally beaten On Monday night, the accused were brought out of their cell and taken to an interrogation room. Kothale was allegedly tied upside down to a ceiling fan and repeatedly beaten by Mr. Kamte and his staff. He was also subjected to water torture. Kothade is believed to have succumbed during the interrogation in front of a horrified Mr. Bhandare. Mr. Nangre-Patil said, “Mr. Kamte and his team then attempted to burn Kothale’s body on Tuesday morning. The first attempt was unsuccessful, so they tried to do so again with petrol. Mr. Kamte then attempted to furnish false information to Dr. Dipali Kale, the deputy superintendent of police, saying that both accused had fled to Karnataka.” Mr. Kamte, constables Anil Lad, Arun Tone, Suraj Mulla and Rahul Shingte, and another staffer were immediately suspended and arrested as soon as the incident came to light. Mr. Nangre-Patil said the case would be handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for further investigation. Source: The Hindu