An “admirer” of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath who had gone to Gorakhpur to see the “development work” done by the leader died after being allegedly beaten up by police in his hotel room for taking too much time producing his identity proof.

Manish Gupta, a 36-year-old Kanpur-based real estate developer and father of a boy aged 5, was allegedly hit on the head repeatedly with a rifle butt.

A case of murder has been registered against six policemen. The six suspects are on the run, the police said.

The incident took place late on Monday night but came to light after Manish’s wife arrived in Gorakhpur and began a dharna on Tuesday night, claiming her husband had been an Adityanath “admirer”.

After Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra spoke to Meenakshi, Manish’s wife, over the phone and criticised the police for their “barbaric” behaviour, the six cops were booked for murder. The chief minister spoke to Meenakshi over the phone and announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the family.

The police had initially denied the allegations of assault and said Manish had been drunk and injured himself when he fell down during questioning.

The police had entered the hotel room after receiving information that three “suspicious” people had been staying in a hotel room, booked under a false identity.

Manish had checked into the Gorakhpur hotel on Monday morning with friends Harveer Singh of Mewat in Haryana and Pradeep Kumar of Gurgaon. All three are real estate dealers.

Pradeep said: “We had checked into Hotel Krishna Palace on Monday and gone to see Ramgarh Tal, a huge pond that is a tourist attraction. We had planned to visit the Gorakhnath temple on Tuesday.”

Harveer said: “We were sleeping in our room when some policemen barged in late on Monday night and demanded to see our identity cards. Pradeep and I showed them our IDs but Manish was taking some time finding his. The policemen began slapping and kicking him.

“When Manish tried to call someone over the phone and begged with the police to spare him as he had come to Gorakhpur to see how it had developed, the policemen forcibly took him to Ramgarh Tal police station. They hit him on the head repeatedly with the butt of a rifle.”

Harveer said he and Pradeep came to know after some time that Manish had been taken to the Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital. “When we arrived there, doctors said he had been brought dead,” Harveer said.

According to records at Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital in Gorakhpur, Manish was brought there around 2.30am on Tuesday and declared dead on arrival.

Adityanath is the mahant of the Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur and represented the constituency in the Lok Sabha for several terms.

Pradeep said the cops were heavily drunk and had refused to listen to them. “They assaulted us even more when we asked if they thought we were terrorists,” he said.

Akshay Mishra, an inspector who was among those who entered the hotel room, said they had gone there “during the course of an inquiry”.

“When we entered the room, Manish was drunk and he fell on the floor. Later, he died,” Mishra claimed.

Later, the police said Mishra and the five other cops booked for murder were absconding.

The police said that on Monday night, the Ramgarh Tal police had come to know that three people had checked into the Gorakhpur hotel on the ID of one Chandan Saini of Mahadeva Bazar. The cops grew suspicious and entered the hotel room where Manish and his two friends were staying.

Meenakshi, her five-year-old son Aviraj in her lap, told reporters on Wednesday morning: “Tell me what I should say to my son when he grows up and asks me how his father died. His father was an admirer of Adityanath and had come to Gorakhpur to witness the development done by the chief minister. But the state’s police killed him. I will tell everybody that you will not return alive if you go to Gorakhpur.”

She added: “Manish had spoken to Aviraj over the phone on Monday night. He had thought he would see how the chief minister’s hometown has grown but he has returned dead.”

Meenakshi said there were “several injury marks” on Manish’s body. “There is a crack on his skull…. I have heard that some policemen have been suspended. Why has the chief minister not ordered their arrest? Does he support them?” she said after returning to Kanpur. Later, Adityanath spoke to her.

Manish’s farther Nand Kishore, a trader, said: “My family is finished. The government, police officers — whom should I hold responsible for the murder of my only son?”

Congress leader Priyanka, who was in Lucknow, spoke to Meenakshi over the phone on Wednesday and promised support, including legal assistance. Priyanka alleged the Uttar Pradesh police were “soft” on criminals and “barbaric” with common people.

An hour later, Vipin Tanda, Gorakhpur senior superintendent of police, announced that six policemen, including inspectors Mishra and Jagat Narayan Singh, had been suspended. Later, six cops were booked for murder.

On Tuesday night, Tanda had said that Manish, Pradeep and Harveer had behaved “suspiciously” and denied assault.