Two cops suspended over death of two Dalits

Two policemen were today suspended in connection with the suicides of two Dalit men in Bhatla village in a span of 15 days.
SP (Hisar) Satender Singh put under suspension Jagbir Singh, SHO of Sadar Police Station (Hansi), and Investigation Officer Rajbir Singh in connection with the suicides of Gurbachan Singh and his uncle Badan Singh, police said.
The body of Gurbachan was found hanging from a tree near Chainat village on October 8. Police registered a case of suicide though his family members suspected some foul play behind it.
Gurbachan's family members had named three persons in a complaint filed with the police and demanded their immediate arrest.

About two weeks later, Gurbachan's uncle Badan Singh, who the family members claim was the main witness in the suicide case, also hanged himself to death from a tree yesterday.
The family claimed that he was being pressured by the three accused persons to change his statement.

Over 200 villagers last night gathered at Civil Hospital, Hansi and demanded suspension of three police officers including ASP Jashandeep Randhawa, alleging that they took no action in the Gurbachan suicide case. SP Fatehabad Sangeeta Kalia rushed to Hansi to control the situation.
Police have arrested three persons -- Ramesh, Rajbir and Raj Kumar -- of the same village in this case. They were today produced before a court, which remanded them to two-day police custody, said DSP (Hansi) Jaspal Singh.

This came amid hightened tension in Haryana over the killing of a 15-year-old Dalit boy, accused of stealing a pigeon in Gohana, in police custody and the Faridabad incident in which two children of a Dalit family were burnt alive by members of an upper caste community.