UP man accused of theft, dies in police custody

A 32-year-old man, accused of theft, died in police custody in Najibabad in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor district.

The man, Sunil Prajapati, was arrested on Friday and his family alleged that he was "tortured by the police".

SP Dharamveer Singh claimed that he was in an "inebriated state" and died due to "an excess intake of 'intoxicating' pills".

Prajapati, was arrested for allegedly stealing wheat sacks from the house of the village head Pradeep Kumar.

"Kumar called the cops and handed him over. Sunil was inebriated. We recovered 70 'intoxicating' pills from his possession and took him to the police station where his condition started deteriorating on Saturday. He was taken to a private hospital, where he later died. A post-mortem report of the deceased revealed the cause of death to be a heart attack. We contacted the man's kin, who told cops that Sunil had been missing for the past six days. He was having seizures," the SP said.