Police ordered an inquiry on Monday into the alleged custodial death of a man at the Nowgam police station here and placed the accused personnel under suspension to facilitate a fair and transparent probe.
"A formal inquiry in the matter has been launched and an official of the Nowgam police station (who has been accused of foul play by the family members of the victim) has been placed under suspension for a fair and transparent inquiry," a police spokesperson said.
Giving details of the incident, he said Muslim Muneer was called to the police station on Saturday over his alleged involvement in a theft case.
"The case pertains to the theft of a scooter. The suspect was called to the police station on the basis of CCTV footage, in which two men were seen taking the scooty away in the Nowgam-Natipora area," the police spokesperson said.
He said as the suspect seemed to be under the influence of intoxicants at the time of reporting at the police station, his family members were called and they confirmed that he was a drug addict.
The family members were allowed to take the man along with them after the completion of all legal formalities within a couple of hours, the spokesperson said, adding that subsequently, it came to the fore that he died around 5 pm.
As soon as the news was received, the inquest proceedings were started at the Chanpora police station under section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to ascertain the reason for his death, the spokesperson said.
