The Allahabad High Court (HC) has junked the bail pleas of four cops attached to the Uttar Pradesh Police accused in the custodial death of Krishna Kumar Yadav, which dates back to the year 2021, in Jaunpur district.

In an order dated September 30, Justice Samit Gopal of the HC referred to the CBI chargesheet, which alleges that the cops inflicted grievous injuries on Yadav to force him to confess, and allegedly caused injuries, resulting in his death.

The HC also kept in view the note of a March 12, 2024 order passed by the Supreme Court (SC) cancelling the bail granted to co-accused Jitendra Singh. The top court had underlined the seriousness of the allegations involving a custodial death and had held that a stricter approach was warranted while considering bail.

All four cops denied bail

The four accused who applied for the bail have been identified as Jaysheel Tiwari, Ramkrit Yadav, Raj Kumar Verma and Angad Prasad Chaudhary. The apex court had also shed light on the gravity of the charge under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the accused and directed Jitendra Singh to surrender before the CBI court.

As per the central agency, attempts had allegedly been made to conceal the circumstances surrounding Yadav’s death. The agency alleged that false records were created to pass off his death as an accident or as the result of an assault by unidentified people, rather than injuries allegedly inflicted during police custody.

The CBI thereafter filed a chargesheet against 11 police personnel.

Yadav was taken from home in early hours

The case dates back to February 11, 2021, when, as per the FIR, a Special Operation Group team took Yadav from his home in Baksha village of Jaunpur at around 3 am. He was then taken into custody of the Baksha Station house officer (SHO) and other cops.

One of Yadav’s kin alleged in the FIR that Yadav was unable to stand and cried out to his mother to save him, saying the police would kill him. Later, his family was informed that he died while in police custody.

An FIR was lodged in this regard on February 12, 2021, under Sections 302, 34, 120-B and other provisions of the IPC. Keeping in view the concerns over the probe, a division bench of the Allahabad HC transferred the probe to the CBI on September 8, 2021.

Following this, the CBI too registered an FIR and investigated the allegations to file its chargesheet against 11 cops later. The Special CBI judge in Lucknow framed charges in the case on September 18, 2024.

AIIMS Board cites multiple injuries

The CBI probe also relied on the findings of an AIIMS-Delhi medical board, which concluded that Yadav had sustained numerous blunt-force injuries. As per the medical opinion cited by the agency, the cause of death was shock stemming from the cumulative effect of those injuries.