Locals attack police, snatch their arms after a man dies in custody in Bihar’s Katihar

The alleged custodial death of a 24-year-old youth triggered violence in Bihar’s Katihar district on Saturday (April 4, 2026), under the Falka Police station area.

The angry mob chased the police personnel and beat them up on the road. They also snatched their arms, blocked the road and vandalised the police station. Later, the police, in a statement, said that they had safely recovered the weapons.

The police, however, claimed that the youth tried to end his life by hanging himself in the lock-up and later died during transit when he was being shifted to the hospital.

Katihar Superintendent of Police (SP) Shikhar Chaudhary has suspended the Station House Officer (SHO) of Falka Police Station, Ravi Kumar Rai, as well as the Investigating Officer (IO) Kundan Patel. He has also initiated disciplinary action against them.

According to Katihar Police, a raid was conducted on Friday night (April 3, 2026) by the Falka Police Station and Rakesh Kumar Yadav, a resident of Gopalpatti, was arrested in connection with a bike theft case No. 36/26 (dated February 22, 2026) registered under Section 309(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). He was subsequently detained in the police station.

“While in custody, the accused attempted to end his life by hanging himself. Following this, the Falka Police immediately took him to the Primary Health Centre (PHC), Falka, for medical attention. From there, doctors referred him to the Sadar Hospital, Katihar, for advanced treatment; however, he passed away during transit,” Katihar police said in the statement.

However, Paritosh Yadav, the victim’s elder brother, said that Mr. Yadav was arrested on Thursday (April 2, 2026) night; the same day, the complainant whose bike was stolen was also present but he failed to identify Mr. Yadav has the thief.

“Despite the person whose bike was stolen failing to identify [Mr. Yadav], the police did not release him and kept him in the lock-up. The police mercilessly beat him in front of us. The next day, on April 3, his health deteriorated. He died in police custody [under] harsh torture,“ he said.

Sister-in-law of the deceased, Komal Yadav, said that the police officer did not allow them to meet him at the station. She also claimed that she saw a police officer strangling her Jija, putting pressure on him to accept the crime, which he never did.

Meanwhile, the death toll in the suspected hooch tragedy in Motihari in Bihar’s East Champaran district rose to seven on Saturday (April 4, 2026) as two more people died, as per the police.

Following the rise in the death toll, the district police conducted an awareness campaign among the villagers through a public address system, appealing to them to visit the Sadar Hospital for a check-up if they had consumed alcohol between April 1 and April 3.