Jajpur: A youth attempted suicide by consuming poison following alleged custodial torture by Balichandrapur police in Jajpur district. The victim, Rabindra Mallik (28), a resident of Mahipur village of Barachana block, was shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack in a critical condition. His condition is stated to be critical.

As per Rabindra’s allegations, he was thrashed mercilessly and forced to strip by the police in custody which provoked him to take such a drastic step. Sources said Rabindra’s physically challenged father Maheshwar and a neighbour Namita Mallik were allegedly attacked with a sword by his cousin Badal on Sunday. In order to save his father, Rabindra threw hot water at Badal. Following the ugly fight, Badal went to the police station and complained against Rabindra while the latter along with his neighbour Namita filed counter-allegations.

Acting on Badal’s complaint, police picked up Rabindra and detained him in the police station for interrogation where he was allegedly beaten up and forced to strip. He claimed his family was also not allowed to meet him. Unable to bear the torture, he took the bottle of poison found in the lockup room and consumed it. Rabindra went on to allege that one of the police personnel had kept the poison bottle in the lockup room and despite seeing him consume it, none of the policemen tried to stop him.

Rabindra’s family accused the police of not even informing them that their son was admitted to the hospital and is undergoing treatment. They claimed that the family got to know about Rabindra three days after his hospitalisation in a critical condition in Cuttack.

“From the day Rabindra was picked up by the police for questioning in connection with the incident, we had been requesting the police to meet him, but the cops did not allow us to meet him for two days. When we insisted on seeing him, the police finally took us to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack where he was undergoing treatment on Tuesday night. My son was brutally assaulted by police in custody and was admitted to the hospital in critical condition without informing us,” said Maheswar, father of the victim, adding that they found four police personnel guarding him at the hospital.

However, Balichandrapur police station Inspector-in-Charge (IIC) Samarjit Nayak has denied the allegations of assault and clarified that Rabindra was admitted to the Cuttack medical facility after he suddenly fell ill at the police station.