Dipak Kumar with his family at Gandhi Maidan police station in Patna. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, Oct. 18: A 45-year-old man and his wife tried to immolate themselves and kill two of their children in the crowded Kargil Chowk area today in protest against alleged torture by deputy superintendent of police (town) Ramakant Prasad.

Barely had Dipak Kumar alias Dipu, a resident of Salimpur Ahra under Gandhi Maidan police station, and his wife poured kerosene on themselves and on their children than the people present in the area caught the duo and alerted police.

A police team immediately rushed to the spot and detained Dipak and his wife, Anita Devi. Their two sons, three-year-old Hrithik and one-and-a-half-year-old Roshan, are with their parents in the police station.

Dipak alleged that Prasad had been mounting pressure on him for five months to either work as the DSP’s informer or leave Patna.

“In 2005, I was involved in some petty crime. I had served a prison term even then. But after getting married the same year, I set up a bookshop at the Bakarganj roundabout. My father, who owns a fast food stall at the same place, helped me set up a similar food joint in the area,” he told The Telegraph.

Two months ago, Dipak said, the DSP came to the bookshop along with his bodyguards.

“One of the guards took me to the DSP’s office, where I was beaten up. The officer said I would have to work as his informer. When I refused to work as his informer as I had quit crime long time ago, he threatened me with dire consequences. He asked me to abide by his order,” Dipak added.

“Tired of being tortured almost everyday, I left Patna, only to return last week as my family here was facing financial problems. After four months, I opened my book shop again last Saturday. But the officer again came to my shop the same day. The DSP had all information about me. He started slapping and beating me in public, asking me to leave the town immediately. He beat me up very badly,” Dipak said.

On Monday, Dipak lodged an FIR in the Patna civil court against Prasad and two of his bodyguards. “Following this, the officer tried to put pressure on other book-sellers in the area to give the police in writing that I was extorting money from them. This compelled me to take the drastic step,” he added.

The DSP refuted all allegations. “This man has got a criminal history and the police had complaints that he was extorting money from small book shops and fast food stalls in the Bakarganj area. The police took action against him in accordance with the law. To counter the police action, he has now chalked out this plan. All his allegations are false and baseless,” Prasad told The Telegraph.

Dipak, on the other hand, said he wanted justice. “I am a reformed man now and am in no way connected with crime. Why am I being forced to do something which I don�t want to?� he said.