Police Personnel Accused Of Mercilessly Thrashing Kashmiri Suspects In Tihar Jail Suspended

The merciless flogging of 18 Kashmiri terror suspects on the night of 21-22 November by the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force in Tihar Jail gave rise to a lot of controversies. Amidst all of that, the authorities have suspended all the personnel who were involved in the incident, as per reports by Mail Today.

A detailed report has been submitted to the Union Home Ministry. This came after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had called Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba to enquire about the incident.

Background

The inmates of Tihar high-risk ward were mercilessly beaten and injured during a routine search. No FIR was registered in connection with the case till late on Thursday.

The atrocities resulted in furore throughout the Kashmir Valley when one of the victims, Ahtisham Ahmad, a Hizbul Mujahideen suspect, who was produced before a local court in Sopore regarding an old case, showed the brutal assault marks to the session judge.

Seeing the horrifying injury marks, the Sopore court ordered immediate admission of the suspect to the hospital where the doctors had to undergo neurosurgery. They added that delay in medical assistance had worsened his condition.

Ahmed was reportedly beaten by the police because he was wearing a neck comforter that he had made from the pillow covers available to him. He was advised to wear one due to his persistent neck pain.

The matter surfaced when the advocate of Syed Shahid Yousuf, another inmate who got a severe beating, went to meet him in jail. The advocate noticed injury marks on his body, and the matter was taken to the High Court.

Yousuf is the son of Syed Salahuddin, the head of terror group of Hizbul Mujahideen.

A committee was formed to investigate the matter. The injured prisoners were examined by a three-member team of doctors from the AIIMS in New Delhi.

The fact-finding investigation was headed by a district judge rank officer.

Yousuf’s brother-in-law, who met him in Tihar jail on 24 November reportedly said that Yousuf was denied proper medical treatment.

The version of the police

The Tihar jail report claimed that three prisoners, including a Kashmiri, were reportedly found having unauthorised materials. When Tamil Nadu Special Force sub-inspector Muthu Pandee tried to stop them, they inmates resisted him and also assaulted the sub-inspector.

Pandee is physically challenged, and when he was allegedly beaten up by three inmates, other policemen intervened. In this scuffle, those 18 inmates were reportedly injured that included Yousuf.

After the incident, the team of Tamil Nadu Special Force was barred from active jail duties. Relevant CCTV footage has also been provided to the probe team.

The Logical Indian Take

The horror of custodial deaths and atrocities is nothing new to India; the unfortunate part is that hardly these get reported.

In a recent case, while looking into the case of a prisoner’s murder in police custody in Sangli police station in Maharashtra, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on 9 November issued a notice to Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP).

The NHRC stated in clear that law enforcing agencies are for the protection of the people and such gruesome acts committed by the police personnel is the worst example of cruelty and lawlessness amounting to a violation of Right to Life of the victim.

In response to an RTI filed by Firstpost, it was revealed that a total of 894 deaths in judicial custody and 74 deaths in police custody had been recorded in India in 2017.

The Logical Indian severely condemns this incident of custodial atrocity. The police are supposed to be the gatekeepers of law and order, and breach of law from their side is highly condemnable. It is essential that the powerful do not use their might for the wrongful purposes.