Nine ATS members of MP police suspended after custodial death of suspect

Bhopal: Nine personnel from the Madhya Pradesh anti-terrorism squad (ATS) were suspended on Thursday following the death of a 23-year-old man from Bihar in their custody at a Gurugram hotel, police said on Friday.

The suspension order was issued late Thursday night after Sohna police registered a case against the ATS team based on a complaint filed by the deceased’s uncle.

A police officer said that Himanshu Kumar was among six suspects detained on Tuesday early morning for alleged involvement in “cross-border money transfers and cyber crime”.

“The ATS recovered 14 laptops, a tablet, 41 mobile phones, and 85 debit cards from the six suspects, which was evidence of their involvement in a terror-funding case. Investigation into potential terror links is ongoing,” the officer said.

A nine-member ATS team had gone to Gurugram to investigate the case based on inputs from the intelligence and cyber cells. “However, they did not inform the local police before detaining the six suspects. During the interrogation at the hotel, Himanshu reportedly jumped from the third floor of the hotel and died on Wednesday,” said Yogesh Deshmukh, additional director general of police (ADG), intelligence.

Himanshu’s uncle, Chandan Kumar, alleged foul play and lodged a complaint.

“Himanshu had come to Delhi to prepare for competitive exams for the army. He recently moved to Gurugram and was detained without any case or warrant, purely on suspicion. The MP ATS held Himanshu and others in a hotel and then threw him from the third floor, leading to his death,” he said.