Parbhani violence: Probe holds police accountable for law student’s death, Congress demands action

Maharashtra Police keep vigil near Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Statue at Station road in Parbhani. File
| Photo Credit: Vijay Soneji

After a magisterial inquiry concluded that law student Somnath Suryawanshi died due to police torture, Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Vasantrao Sapkal on Friday (March 21, 2025) accused Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of protecting the police allegedly responsible for the student’s custodial death.

“Police recorded Somnath Suryawanshi’s death as accidental and tried to suppress the matter. The government took no cognisance of the case when the autopsy report revealed the cause of death as assault by the police. The Magistrate’s report has concluded the same. Will Devendra Fadnavis, at least now, act against the police officers and dismiss them?” asked Mr. Sapkal.

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Suryawanshi was arrested in connection with violence on December 10, 2024, in Parbhani city that was triggered after the desecration the day earlier of a glass-encased replica of the Constitution. He died on December 15 in a State-run hospital in Parbhani.

Calling the BJP-led coalition government “anti-Dalit”, Mr. Sapkal said, “Police failed to handle the case and resorted to inhuman lathi-charge on the Dalits. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis misled people on the cause of Somnath Suryawanshi’s death in Nagpur’s winter and said he died due to asthma. An inquiry should be made on who ordered the combing operation and lathi-charge in Parbhani.”

Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MSHRC) stated that it had received a box containing the report of the magisterial inquiry along with a hard disc regarding the custodial death of Suryawanshi from U.M. Nandeshwar, Principal and District Sessions Judge, Parbhani.

C.U. Telgaonkar, Parbhani Judicial Magistrate First Class, conducted the inquiry and recorded the 451-page report. According to the Commission, the report shows that Suryawanshi was assaulted at Nava Mondha Police Station in Parbhani and that the police officials named in the report were accountable for his death.

After hearing the case on March 20, the MSHRC issued notices on Wednesday to the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra, the Additional Chief Secretary — Home Department, the Additional Director General of Police (CID) (Crimes), and the Deputy Superintendent of Police (CID), Parbhani. It also sent notices to the police officials responsible for the death, allowing them to present their defence.

The next hearing is scheduled for June 23.