‘Crushed under police boot’, newborn dies in Jharkhand

RANCHI: A newborn baby died allegedly after being crushed under police boots during a raid in Jharkhand’s Giridih district in the small hours of Wednesday, prompting Chief Minister Hemant Soren to order an investigation.

The alleged incident occurred at Koshodinghi village under Deori police station when police personnel went to the house to arrest two in connection with a case.

"It’s been alleged that a four-day-old boy died when the police went there to execute two non-bailable warrants issued by the court. Prima facie, external injuries have not been found on the baby’s body. It has been sent for postmortem," said Giridih Superintendent of Police Amit Renu.

Once the report comes, police will be in a position to say what actually happened, the SP said.

He said the autopsy will be conducted under the supervision of a magistrate with proper videography. "Right now we don’t have any information that any policeman had crushed the infant. If true, the erring personnel will not be spared," Renu said.

The SP said four to five police personnel had gone to execute non-bailable warrants against Bhushan Pandey, grandfather of the deceased, and another person.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren ordered a probe into the incident after a video went viral in which a person, apparently Bhushan Pandey, is seen alleging that police raided their home at 3.20 am and they opened the door using force when it was not opened.

"I fled and women also rushed out. The cops started searching the house when the four-day-old child was sleeping. The baby was crushed and killed," he claimed.