Kanpur, On Thursday, 26-year old Dalit man died in police custody under suspicious circumstances following which twelve police personnel have been suspended.

Kamal Valmiki, a resident of Shiv Katra village, was found dead at Ahirwan police station after he was picked up along with another man, Raju Mistri, in a case of loot.

To identify the body, police called the family of Mistri, which was later claimed by Kamal's family.

An FIR was filed by the family members of the deceased against the station in charge and other police personnel for beating Kamal to death.

However, police claimed he had committed suicide and sent the body for postmortem.

According to SSP, Mathura, Shalabh Mathur, "Twelve police personnel, including the station in charge Yogendra Singh, have been suspended and strict action will be taken against them if found guilty".

The Kanpur-Lucknow highway was blocked by the members of Valmiki community and they threw stones at the police station following which senior police officials reached there to control the situation.

But, Raju Mistri has been reported missing.