Upadhyay in the hospital. Picture by Prashant Mitra

Ranchi, Jan. 22: A constable driver of Dhurwa police station attempted suicide today alleging injustice and torture by senior police officers.

R.D. Upadhyay, who joined the police station two months ago, is struggling for his life at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences after consuming sulphas tablets near the residence of senior superintendent of police (SSP) early this morning.

Although Upadhyay claims that he attempted suicide for the injustice and torture done by the officer-in-charge of the police station, SSP Anil Palta said Upadhyay was not at all a disciplined staff in the force.

Talking to The Telegraph, Palta said: ?Upadhyay had been to jail in a dowry related case after his wife had lodged a complaint against him. He is also mentally depressed and indisciplined person. Policemen at Dhurwa were afraid of the man against whom departmental proceeding is going on. Because of the irresponsible statements he has given, proper action will also be taken against him.?

But Upadhyay had a different story to narrate. ?Senior police officers have been torturing me mentally because I was helping a man who had come for justice at the police station. One Satish Kumar, a resident of Adarshnagar, had taken around Rs 6 lakh from one Murari Singh of Danapur, Bihar, by promising him a job for the latter?s son. But neither did Satish give the job nor did he return the money,? he said.

?When Murari approached Dhurwa police station, he did not get a good response and instead was asked to give Rs 80,000 by the officer-in-charge. I felt bad for him and in my effort to bail him out of the situation, asked him to meet the SSP. Murari did so and the SSP immediately asked Dhurwa police station to investigate the matter. Although Satish was not arrested, his father and brother were summoned to the police station. It was finalised that the latter would give Murari post-dated cheques and repay the money. But later, the officer-in-charge came to know about my involvement and started torturing me for helping the man,? said Upadhyay.

?I joined here two months ago and by conspiring against me, I was again ordered to go back to the police lines.Seeing no other way, I went to meet the SSP, but he also told me to join the lines. I had pinned my hopes on the senior officers but when the SSP told me to follow the orders, I felt depressed and I decided to end my life. I consumed the tablets outside his residence,? he added.

However, Akshaybhat Chaturvedi, Dhurwa officer-in-charge, said: ?If Upadhyay says I demanded Rs 80,000 from Murari, it is totally false. The whole case was solved with the other party agreeing to pay the money. Upadhyay has served a six-month jail term in a case of torture while he had tried to burn his wife. He has already applied for a divorce, which is still pending.?

Chaturvedi further added that Upadhyay had been telling about his depressing condition in personal life and also said that if it continued, he would commit suicide.