A 24-year-old BTech graduate, Udit Gayki, died allegedly after being beaten by police officers in custody in Bhopal’s Piplani area, sparking outrage and protests from his family and members of the Kunbi community. The family claims that Udit, who had just received his degree a day earlier, was celebrating with friends when police detained and assaulted him, leading to his death.
According to reports, Udit had recently completed his engineering degree from VIT College and received job offers from two major companies in Bengaluru with annual packages of over ₹10 lakh. He had come to Bhopal three days earlier to collect his documents and was out celebrating his graduation on Friday night with friends in Indrapuri when police arrived and began questioning the group.
CCTV footage shows two policemen beating Udit with sticks and kicking him. His condition deteriorated soon after, and his friends rushed him to AIIMS Bhopal, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. Initially, police claimed that Udit had died of a heart attack and was never brought to the police station. However, after the video surfaced, officials suspended two constables, Santosh Bamnia and Saurabh Arya, pending investigation.
DCP Vivek Singh said, “A CSP-level officer is conducting the inquiry. The post-mortem is being carried out by a panel of five doctors, and the process is being video recorded to ensure transparency.”
Udit’s family has accused the police of brutality and of trying to protect the guilty officers by describing his death as a medical issue. His father works as an engineer in MCB, and his mother is a teacher. Udit’s brother-in-law, Ketan Adlak, serves as a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) in the Hawk Force unit in Balaghat.
“He was our only son. He had just started his career. The police have taken away all our dreams,” a grieving relative said.
Following the incident, hundreds of members of the Kunbi community from Betul gathered outside the Piplani police station late Friday night, demanding strict action. Former Congress minister Sukhdev Panse also joined the protest, saying, “Law and order in Madhya Pradesh has collapsed. The police are inflicting atrocities on their own citizens.”
Authorities have deployed heavy police forces outside AIIMS and the Piplani police station to prevent unrest. Officials say further action will depend on the post-mortem report, which could lead to murder charges against the suspended officers.
Activists and locals have criticized the repeated instances of police brutality in Bhopal. “Every few months, such incidents happen, and officers are merely suspended for a few days. There is no real accountability,” said one protester outside the police station.
