Patna: The new deputy inspector-general (DIG) of Shahabad range, Kumar Eklay, on Sunday removed all personnel posted at Bhagwanpur police station in Kaimur district over a case of custodial death.

Eklay, soon after assuming charge, reviewed the case related to the death of Puran Chero, a resident of Padari village under the jurisdiction of Bhagwanpur police station in Kaimur district, on December 20, 2017. Chero had been taken into custody for allegedly brewing country liquor.

DIG Eklay said five personnel, including Bhagwanpur police station house officer Chandramani, have been suspended and departmental proceedings initiated against them. The cops have been shifted to the Bhabua police lines with immediate effect.

Disciplinary action has been taken against sub-inspectors Ashok Rai and Birbal Yadav, havildar Banty Ram and constable Uttam Kumar. The DIG also ordered Kaimur superintendent of police Harpreet Kaur to remove all other policemen and special auxiliary police personnel from Bhagwanpur.

"The decision to shift all police personnel posted at Bhagwanpur police station has been taken on the basis of a report submitted by the sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) of Bhabua in Kaimur district," DIG Eklay told The Telegraph over the phone on Sunday.

The deceased's wife, Laxmina, has alleged in a complaint case that her husband was picked up from home on December 12, 2017, for interrogation following a raid conducted at the village by a police team. The police tortured her husband physically at the police hazat (lockup), causing brain haemorrhage, she alleged.

"He (Chero) was rushed to Bhagwanpur primary health centre after his condition deteriorated. Later, he was referred to a government hospital in Varanasi, where he died around 5pm on December 20, 2017," Laxmina wrote in her complaint.

Laxmina alleged that the policemen didn't hand over the body to the family members and performed his last rites in Varanasi to destroy evidence. The SDPO, in his report, also found the allegations against the cops in question true. The incident led to public protest in Bhagawanpur.

The family and local residents, forced local shopkeepers to keep their down shutters for almost a week and also staged a protest march in Bhabua, the district headquarters of Kaimur, around 210km south-west of Patna.

A former RJD MLA, Ram Chandra Yadav, termed the disciplinary action against the cops as victory of the people. "Finally the erring cops were penalised," he added.