Couple consume poison inside police officer’s office

LUCKNOW - An elderly couple in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi district Thursday consumed poison inside the office of a police officer, alleging harassment by the police in a case, officials said. The man died while his wife is battling for life in a hospital.

The deceased, Kailash Rajput, along with his wife Kesar consumed poison inside the office of Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jhansi, Vinod Kumar Dohre.

The couple alleged that despite their repeated complaints, the policemen were not taking any action against some influential locals of their Ujian village who had assaulted their 30-year-old son Narendra a few weeks ago.

The two also alleged that the influential locals were threatening them with dire consequences to make them withdraw their complaint against them and some police personnel were trying to cover up the matter for vested interests.

“Rajput and Kesar Thursday went to meet the SSP to apprise him about their problems and later consumed poison even after the SSP assured them of full co-operation,” Superintendent of Police (City) Jagdeesh Singh told reporters in Jhansi, some 300 km from Lucknow.

Taking strict cognizance of the incident, police authorities ordered an enquiry into the matter and suspended two policemen - a Station House Officer and Sub-Inspector - with immediate effect for their inaction.