Bisada tense after death of lynching accused, force deployed

Heavy police force was deployed at Uttar Pradesh’s Bisada village after a 22-year-old man, an accused in the Dadri lynching case, died in a Delhi hospital due to suspected case of dengue or chikungunya.

Ravin Sisodia’s family alleged foul play and threatened they will stage a stir accusing jail authorities of beating their son, who was in jail for the last one year.

The police, however, said he was unwell since the past 4-5 days and was admitted to the district hospital in Noida on Monday. He was referred to Delhi’s Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital after his condition deteriorated.

Police said they have deployed force from four police stations as a precautionary measure. All schools and shops in the village have also been shut.

“We are keeping an eye on the situation. We have received information about the death of one of the accused, reasons of which will be ascertained in the postmortem report,” Abhishek Yadav, superintendent of police (rural), Gautam Budh Nagar, said.

On Wednesday morning, the crowd burnt an effigy of UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. People from nearby villages have also joined the protest and demanded the arrest of the jailor of the jail where Ravin was lodged.

“We don’t believe the claims of police that he died of some disease. There should be an inquiry into his death,” Ranveer Sisodia, Ravin’s father, said.

Ravin’s body will be brought to the village in the afternoon after the postmortem is conducted at a Delhi hospital.

Doctors at the LNJP hospital said Ravin was referred to them at around midday on Tuesday and that he died of kidney and respiratory failure.

“He came to the hospital in very bad condition. He had a chronic kidney disease and uncontrolled diabetes. He presented with respiratory infection and fever, “ LNJP’s medical director Dr JC Passey said.

Samples of his blood have been sent for tests and reports are awaited.

Ravin and 17 other men, including three juveniles, were arrested last year for allegedly lynching Mohammad Ikhlaq, 55, and grievously injuring his son Danish over allegations of slaughtering a cow and storing its meat for consumption.

Charges were yet to be framed against Ravin and other accused in a fast track court.

“We will plan out a strategy in a panchayat today. We want the safety of all the men who are lodged in jail so at least they can face trial,” Sanjay Rana, former BJP member and father of one of the accused, said.

(With inputs from Pankaj Parashar and Anonna Dutt)