Drug accused hangs self in Kota custody

JAIPUR: Chandra Shekhar Patidar alias Sonu, who was arrested by a team Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN), Kota for possession of illegal drugs worth Rs 5 crore, allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself while in custody on Saturday.
On September 21, Patidar was arrested by a team of CBN from Shamgarh town of Mandusar in Madhya Pradesh. According to Sahi Ram Meena, deputy narcotics commissioner, Kota, Patidar hanged himself with his shirt at 9 am on Saturday.
"A guard who had gone to his cell to give him breakfast saw him hanging from the wall. A CBN official has been asked to carry out a preliminary investigation into the death, and submit the report by Monday," Meena added.
Meena added that prime facie it appears to be the case of suicide, still a magisterial inquiry will be conducted as per the norms. "The magistrate recorded the statements on Sautrday, the family members of Patidar have been informed about the death and they are coming to Kota," He added.
However, the Ram Karan Patidar, a cousin of the deceased contested the police version and said that his brother could not have hanged himself. "You can ask anybody in the village about my brother. He was not somebody who could be compelled to take extreme step. A free and fair enquiry should be set-up to check the actual cause of the death, my brother died in police remand" Patidar told TOI.
Manoj Patidar, another relative of the deceased said that Chandra Shekhar's death is shrouded in the mystery, "As we wait for the post mortem report and the conclusion of judicial enquiry, it is highly unlikely for us to believe that nobody saw Shekhar committing suicide," he said.
Meanwhile, narcotics officials have informed the Jawahar Nagar police station about the death. The police have registered a case of suicide and started its investigation.
The narcotics bureau had said that Patidar was a habitual offender and an absconder in a raid where 12 kgs of opium was seized by Rajasthan police in September 2012 at Mandaganj area in Ajmer district.