Krishnagar, April 1: A 50-year-old grocer died of a heart attack in Nadia yesterday hours after police woke him up and arrested him on the charge of adulteration.

Nripen Adhikary was picked up around 2 am from his house at Kalirhat village in Nadia’s Kotwali area, about 80 km from Calcutta.

His youngest son Ganesh pleaded that Nripen was a heart patient, but the police pulled him out of bed and shoved him into their jeep.

Nripen suffered a heart attack around the time the jeep reached the police station.

He was taken to Shaktinagar district hospital in Krishnagar and was later shifted to Gandhi Heart Hospital in Kalyani, where he died around 3 in the afternoon.

His family members said though an arrest warrant had been issued, the police could have been more humane.

“My father was suffering from heart problems for the past couple of years and was hospitalised on several occasions. Doctors had advised sound sleep,” said Ganesh, who helped his father run the shop.

Ganesh said the police knocked on their door around 2 am and told him to wake up his father.

“When I refused, they forced themselves in and started shouting. My father woke up with a start and promised them he would surrender the next morning. But they slapped him and dragged him out. As he boarded the police vehicle, he started vomiting,” said Ganesh.

Nadia superintendent of police H.K. Kusumakar said the warrant was issued as Nripen had skipped appearance dates in court. “Nripen died because of a cardiac arrest. However, if there is any complaint, we are ready to conduct an inquiry.”