AGRA: On Thursday, Agra police declared a reward of Rs 20,000 each for information on Sikandra police sub-inspector Anuj Sirohi and Anshul Pratap Singh, the neighbour of 32-year-old Raju Gupta, who was allegedly killed in police custody in November.Sirohi has been absconding since November 23, the day after the death of Raju who was brought to the police station on the suspicion of stealing Rs 7 lakh in jewellery from his neighbour Anshul Pratap Singh’s house. Singh, the co-accused, is also missing. Police claimed that before being handed over to police, Raju had been assaulted by Singh.On the afternoon of November 22, Raju died of alleged police torture in the presence of his mother. He was the son of a bank manager and living with his mother Reenu Lata Gupta in rented accommodations in Narendra Enclave here.Reenu Lata said, “My son took his last breath in my arms. After having been brutally tortured, he was made to sit next to me inside the police station but collapsed within a couple of minutes. Police rushed him to hospital and sent me home. Later in the evening, I was told that my son was no more.”After the incident, the entire Sikandra police station was booked under sections 302 (murder) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the IPC along with Singh and Vivek Parihar , another co-accused and taxation lawyer, who was arrested earlier in December.Taking cognizance of the matter, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC )also issued notice to Agra police. Meanwhile in December, the district court also expressed its displeasure on the shoddy investigation and police’s failure to arrest the main accused Sirohi and Singh. The court wrote a letter to deputy inspector-general Love Kumar to conduct a proper investigation, after which the circle officer of Lohamandi was given charge of the probe.The accused sub-inspector Sirohi hails from Bulandshahr and had applied for surrender plea in court though he never appeared. Singh is said to be relative of a BJP MLA of Mathura district . On the night of November 22, after receiving information about the death of Raju, Anshul fled from his residence in a vehicle which an ‘MLA’ sticker on its windshield, according to sources.

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