Berhampur, Oct. 12: A 30-year-old Dalit, who was arrested on kidnapping charges, last night died in police custody at Kabisuryanagar police station.

The victim has been identified as Dayanidhi from Ganjam.

Ganjam superintendent of police Ashish Singh has suspended woman sub-inspector Pratima Behera and sentry Prasanna Kumar Pradhan on charges of dereliction of duty.

However, the police claimed that the man had committed suicide.

Inspector in charge of the police station S.L.K. Prasad was not present at the time of the incident as he was busy with the preparations for chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s visit to the district today.

Dayanidhi was arrested yesterday morning and died around 5pm the same day. “He had tried to commit suicide by hanging himself from a skylight with his towel at the police station. He was rushed to Kabisuryanagar Community Health Centre where he died,” said Prasad.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who visited Ganjam, is believed to have made enquiries into the incident.