The investigation into the death of Udit Gayake, a 22-year-old engineering student, continues in Bhopal after he was allegedly beaten to death by two policemen last week. His heartbroken family claimed he was “assaulted like an animal.”

Udit last spoke to his father, Rajkumar Gayake, an engineer with the Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board, on Thursday evening. When asked where he was going, Udit said he had “college work.” Rajkumar told The Indian Express, “I said okay, come soon.”

Rajkumar did not know that his son had just received a job offer from an IT company in Bengaluru and had gone out to celebrate with friends. That celebration turned into tragedy.

The Shocking Phone Call

A few hours later, Rajkumar received a distressing call from Bengaluru. “Go to AIIMS (Bhopal), uncle,” said the caller. “It was a phone call from Udit’s friend in Bengaluru. I went to the hospital and saw my son’s body with injuries on his head, shoulder, back, groin, and eye. He was killed like an animal,” Rajkumar said.

Police sources confirmed that Udit died after being assaulted. CCTV footage showed him dancing with friends in Bhopal’s Piplani area, then running into a lane, where a policeman hit him with a stick.

Following the video’s release, the police arrested constables Santosh Bamaniya and Saurabh Arya, booking them for murder. Both were placed in 14-day judicial custody.

Family in Deep Grief

Udit was a BTech student of Computer Science and Cyber Security at VIT Bhopal. He was the youngest in a family of engineers and teachers. His uncle, K.K. Gayake, said, “Why would we behave rudely with anyone, especially the police? We keep our heads down, stay out of trouble, and grow. That’s our culture.”

Rajkumar, holding back tears, said, “All our children were doing well… We were planning to celebrate Diwali together. Now, my wife is barely conscious, my two daughters are grief-stricken, and I can’t understand why the police would treat my son like a hardened criminal?”

“He was a baccha (child),” Rajkumar said. “They (police) could have just hit him once and left him.”

Autopsy of Udit Gayake Shows Brutal Internal Injuries

The postmortem report revealed that Udit had a ruptured pancreas and several internal injuries, indicating a violent assault.

According to his friends, Udit attended a party in Indrapuri on Thursday night. Around 1:30 am, when one of them was dropping him home, police stopped their vehicle. Udit, reportedly scared, ran into a dark alley, where two policemen chased and caught him.

Moments later, his friend heard “sounds of a struggle” and found Udit with a torn shirt and visible injuries.

“When in the car with me, Udit just asked for the AC to be turned on and for some water. He did not mention any pain. He vomited two to three times on the way… Then his hand went limp. We checked for a pulse but couldn’t find one. We immediately took him to AIIMS,” the friend said. Doctors declared him dead on arrival.

Demand for a Fair Investigation

The Gayake family has demanded that the case be handed over to the CBI or an SIT to ensure a fair and impartial investigation.

The shocking case has sparked public anger in Bhopal, with many calling for strict punishment for the policemen involved and better accountability in law enforcement.