Barabanki, Jun 12 (IANS): A man who escaped from the police custody was found hanging from a tree in Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki district.

Rajendra Kumar, 24, a resident of Haidergarh in Barabanki, was detained for questioning in connection with an assault case on Saturday night.

However, Rajendra hoodwinked the cops and fled.

On Sunday, locals spotted him hanging from the tree near the Haidergarh police station.

Barabanki SP D.K. Singh has ordered a probe into Rajendra's death.

Meanwhile, angry villagers blocked the Lucknow-Sultanpur highway alleging that Rajendra had been killed in the police custody.

"Doctors conducted the postmortem of Rajendra and concluded that he died due to hanging. His viscera has been preserved for examination," said the SP.

Rajendra's brother Surendra told the police that his brother, along with Ankit and Umesh, had gone by bike to a neighbouring village. On the way, they had an argument with Rambaksh Lodh and Tribhuvan Rawat and soon, four of them entered into a scuffle.

"Later, a police team arrived and Tribhuvan, Umesh and Ankit were taken to a health facility while Rajendra, who too was injured, was taken to Haidergarh police station," said Surendra.

From the police station, a constable and a home guard took Rajendra to a community health centre for medical examination but he escaped from there, said the police.