Hours after Anuj Thapan, one of the suspects in the Salman Khan home fire case, committed suicide on Wednesday, his brother alleged that he was killed while in prison by Mumbai Police. He also ordered that his post-mortem be performed outside Mumbai.
Abhishek Thapan, the dead accused’s brother, stated that Anuj was not the type of person to commit suicide and deserved justice.
“Anuj was taken by Mumbai Police from Sangrur 6-7 days ago. Today, we received a call that Anuj had committed suicide. He was not the kind who could have committed suicide. He was murdered by the police. We want justice. He worked as a truck helper,” said Abhishek Thapan while talking to ANI.
Manoj Godara, the Sarpanch of the deceased’s native village, also expressed concern over Anuj’s death and accused the police of killing him. “This case is suspicious from the beginning. They were two brothers, one sister and one mother. They don’t have a father. Anuj used to work as a helper to a truck driver. He was taken by Mumbai Police without informing the Panchayat. Even, the family was only informed 1-2 days later. We all know how much security is there in police custody. On one side is superstar Salman Khan and on the other side are the labourers. Under pressure, they have killed him and framed it as a suicide,” he added as per a report on News18.
For the unversed, Anuj Thapan was detained in Sangrur, Punjab, on April 26 and is being held in a crime branch lockup at Mumbai police headquarters. Thapan was detained with Sonu Subhash Chander for allegedly supplying firearms to shooters Sagar Pal and Vicky Gupta, who had previously been apprehended, according to police.
On Wednesday, he was discovered hanging inside the lockup with a bedsheet. He was transported to the hospital and confirmed dead.
