Kathua/Jammu:A 35-year-old suspected drug peddler allegedly hanged himself inside a police lockup in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district on Sunday, prompting the authorities to order a magisterial inquiry, officials said. Three policemen were placed under suspension and the station house officer (SHO) concerned was attached to the district police lines as the police also ordered a separate departmental inquiry, they said.
Sunil Verma of Tapyal village was arrested after 11.47 grams of heroin was found on him during a vehicle checking in the Hiranagar area on Thursday, and he was being questioned at the local police station, the officials said. Verma's body was found hanging by his muffler inside the washroom at the police station around 8.10 am and was rushed to the Government Medical College hospital in Kathua, where he was declared brought dead, they said, claiming that he had committed suicide.
However, his relatives, on getting information about his death, visited the police station and later, blocked the Jammu-Pathankot highway near Londi Morh, demanding an FIR and a judicial inquiry. The protest ended nearly five hours later when Deputy Commissioner, Kathua, Rahul Yadav, and Senior Superintendent of Police, Kathua, Ramesh Kotwal visited the scene and assured of a fair probe into the incident.