Locals stage massive protest over Malwani resident's death in lock-up

Following the death of 47-year-old Hari Chavan in the custody of Malwani police, locals from the area, along with the family of the deceased, staged a massive protest outside the police station for several hours on Thursday. His family claims Chavan and his son-in-law Saifan Kale were framed in the case and allegedly tortured by the police.

According to the family members, the police were targeting both of them for the last few days and were also harassing them for money and threatening to arrest them if they did not pay up.

Chavan's daughter Heena said, "My husband Saifan is not a criminal. There was another person in the area who was involved in thefts. When he was caught, he paid Rs15,000 and, hence, was let off. So they started targeting my family."

She said around six constables came to their house a few days ago and took Saifan, returning later to take some of the phones and electronics, which they claimed he had stolen. "Saifan was assaulted by the officers when they came home. We were threatened. They asked for money to close the case. After we told them we did not have the money, the police returned on Thursday morning, assaulted my father and took him into custody," said Amit, Chavan's son.

The family claimed that his hands were tied from behind when they found his body in the room. "We went to the police station around 8am and were asked to go to the room, where we found him hanging from the bar of the window, his hands tied behind. He was clearly beaten up and killed. We want the officers to be taken to task for this," said Heena.

Chavan's wife is undergoing treatment after she collapsed following the arrests.