Gujarat high court orders CID to probe man’s custodial death

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court on Friday ordered the state criminal investigation department (CID) to probe the alleged custodial death of a 32-year-old man who, his family said, was picked up police from his residence in Ahmedabad during the violence that rocked the city earlier this week.

The court ordered the police to file a first information report (FIR) based on a petition filed by the mother of Shwetang Patel demanding an investigation into his death and action against the policemen responsible for it.

Police said the man died in rioting that followed a 25 August rally to press the Patel community’s demands for job reservations and university seat quotas. Family contenders told the court that Shwetang Patel was beaten mercilessly after he was picked up from his residence in the Bapunagar area.

The autopsy report found he had died of brain haemorrhage following head injury.

The court observed that at first sight it appeared to be a case of homicide.