Badaun (Uttar Pradesh), May 11 (IANS): A 64-year-old man died during a midnight raid at his house by a group of 12 policemen who were looking for his son in connection with the killing of cattle in the Bhasundara village of Badaun district.

The family of Abdul Basheer alleged that he was beaten to death by the policemen on Saturday night. The charge has been denied by the police and a probe has been ordered into the matter.

It is noteworthy that raids were conducted across western Uttar Pradesh on Saturday to arrest alleged cow slaughterers after reports of meat trade being conducted in a clandestine manner.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Bareilly range, Rajesh Pandey, said there is a campaign going on against illicit liquor and cow slaughterers in the state.

Meanwhile, police in Badaun have set up a probe to look into the death of Basheer.

According to police, an autopsy conducted by a panel of three doctors revealed that Basheer had problems in his kidneys and in spleen.

Badaun Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ashok Kumar Tripathi said, "I got information about the death at 2 a.m. and additional SP (city) Jitendra Srivastava rushed to the village. Impartial investigation would be done. An autopsy was conducted by a panel of three doctors and videography was also done. Its report said that there was no injury on the body and the reason of death was 'septic shock'."

Family members, however, alleged that the policemen brutally thrashed Basheer while inquiring about his son's whereabouts.

There was no recent case registered against Basheer's son.

The son of the deceased, Ateeq, said, "About 12 policemen raided my house at midnight and they thrashed my father after they did not find me in the house. Police had raided my house two days ago also but they did not find anything. It looks like they want to frame me, and my father paid the price."

Meanwhile, in Muzaffarnagar and Bijnor districts, four persons were arrested after an alleged encounter with the police. They are also said to be 'cow slaughterers'. Three of them received gun shots in their legs.