By TwoCircles.net news desk,
Patna: To pick up Muslim youths and torture them have become a routine of police in many parts of the country especially in Gujarat. In a fresh incident five innocent Muslim youths, all residents of Baroda, were illegally picked up in the first week of September by plain-clothed Gujarat police officials in the run-up to the assembly byelections in the state. The youths were severely tortured before they were produced in the court.
Zahir and Mushtak were picked up on Sep 1 by police officials but shown arrested on Sep 6. Similarly, Iqbal and Amin were picked up on Sep 2 but shown arrested on Sep 6, 2009; while Usmangani was picked up on Sep 3 and shown arrested on Sep 6. All of them were produced in the court on September 7.
Notably, they were formally presented before the magistrate after a gap of 5 or more days during which they were blind-folded and taken into a farm-house at Sivasi Gotri Road in village Sindhrot and brutally tortured. The police charged them for planning to bomb the Ganesh Vijarjan Yatra and for possessing Sutli bombs and rocket launcher. According to police they recovered these items from a closed hand cart. Police Commissioner called a Press Conference on September 7 and the news hit the headlines of all local newspapers.
A team of eminent human rights activists including Shabnam Hashmi, Harsh Mander, Rahul Rashtrapal and Gagan Sethi met family members of the affected youths. They told the team that the youth with no criminal records were picked up by policemen in plain clothes, sometimes using force and sometimes taking them under false pretences.
As family members of these youths were unaware about their arrest, they searched for them in various police stations and hospitals. They were able to know about them only after local councillor Mr. Mohdbhai Vora with a delegation met DCP Rakesh Asthana. The DCP informed the delegation that youths were safe and in police custody but he refused to reveal as to where they were kept or why they were picked up.
The day when the delegation met the DCP some parents were asked late in the evening to meet their sons at a police station. They saw them from a distance and were not allowed to talk to them. It was visible from their appearance that they were badly tortured, some of them could not even walk on their own.
Before presenting them in the court the youths were threatened with dire consequences if they told the judge about the torture while the families were threatened not to contact any one otherwise more cases will be put on their sons.
A team constituting Rahul Rashtrapal, Dushyantbhai, Sachin Pandya and Shabnam Hashmi went to the Baroda Central Jail and met two of these youths - Zaheer and Iqbal - on September 25, 2009. Both youth narrated a terrible story of their torture. According to them they were brutally beaten up along with three others who were also arrested. All of them were kept and tortured in different rooms. The police beat them all over the body with lathis, two men stood on Iqbal’s thighs and legs stretched wide and beat him up brutally. Iqbal was given electric shocks on his waste downwards, abused using the filthiest language possible. Zaheer was stripped naked and given electric shocks all over his body many times a day. They caught him by his hair and banged his head against the walls repeatedly. Abusing him they called him a Taliban and a terrorist, and degraded his community and mother and sisters. Zaheer’s hands were tied to the roof and he was not allowed to sleep for days.
Besides this inhuman action, both Zaheer and Iqbal were not even allowed to break their fasting (rozas) till 11pm. The youth alleged that the police kept on forcing them to admit that they were going to bomb the Ganesh Visarjan procession and kill people. Zaheer pleaded with the police to spare him as he was innocent and he had no idea about the allegations. The policemen taunted him and said if you are tired of torture we will shoot you dead and made him run across a field all the time aiming at him to shoot him down.
In a statement, the team of human rights activists have criticised media coverage of their false arresting on September 7. The daily Divya Bhaskar’s headline read: ‘Accused picked up in possession of the rocket launcher had foreign connections’. Sandesh newspaper wrote: ‘When the accused used to come out of the mosque after praying he used to get into frenzy to destroy the Ganpati.’
The team has also alleged that Rakesh Asthana, the Police Commissioner, Rakesh Sharma the ACP, J. D. Ramgadia. PI Crime Branch, D.R. Dhamal, PI of Baroda city, Halsika PSI SOG were all involved in this illegal picking up, detention and torture of the youth. They also have said that the farm house where the youth were taken and tortured belongs to a close associate of the Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana.
They have urged National Human Rights Commission, National Commission for Minorities and Government of India that these grave allegations should be independently investigated and the guilty police officers severely punished.
They hoped that proper action would be taken against the Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana for flouting the Supreme Court DK Basu guidelines and for using the premises of a private farm house for illegal detention and torture. Not following these guidelines constitutes contempt of the Supreme Court which is a serious offence, punishable by imprisonment and fine.
P.S.:
D.K.Basu Guidelines
In view of the increasing incidence of violence and torture in custody, the Supreme Court of India has laid down 11 specific requirements and procedures that the police and other agencies have to follow for the arrest, detention and interrogation of any person.
1 Police arresting and interrogating suspects should wear “accurate, visible and clear” identification and name tags, and details of interrogating police officers should be recorded in a register.
2 A memo of arrest must be prepared at the time of arrest. This should have the time and date of arrest, be attested by at least one witness who may either be a family member of the person arrested or a respectable person of the locality where the arrest was made, be counter-signed by the person arrested.
3 The person arrested, detained or being interrogated has a right to have a relative, friend or well-wisher informed as soon as practicable, of the arrest and the place of detention or custody. If the person to be informed has signed the arrest memo as a witness this is not required.
4 Where the friend or relative of the person arrested lives outside the district, the time and place of arrest and venue of custody must be notified by police within 8 to 12 hours after arrest. This should be done by a telegram through the District Legal Aid Authority and the concerned police station.
5 The person arrested should be told of the right to have someone informed of the arrest, as soon as the arrest or detention is made.
6 An entry must be made in the diary at the place of detention about the arrest, the name of the person informed and the name and particulars of the police officers in whose custody the person arrested is.
7 The person being arrested can request a physical examination at thetime of arrest. Minor and major injuries if any should be recorded. The "Inspection Memo" should be signed by the person arrested as well as the arresting police officer. A copy of this memo must be given to the person arrested.
8 The person arrested must have a medical examination by a qualified doctor every 48 hours during detention. This should be done by a doctor who is on the panel, which must be constituted by the Director of Health Services of every State.
9 Copies of all documents including the arrest memo have to be sent to the Area Magistrate (laqa Magistrate) for his record.
10 The person arrested has a right to meet a lawyer during the interrogation, although not for the whole time.
11 There should be a police control room in every District and State headquarters where information regarding the arrest and the place of custody of the person arrested must be sent by the arresting officer. This must be done within 12 hours of the arrest. The control room should prominently display the information on a notice board.
These requirements were issued to the Director General of Police and the Home Secretary of every State. They were obliged to circulate the requirements to every police station under their charge. Every police station in the country had to display these guidelines prominently. The judgment also encouraged that the requirements be broadcast through radio and television and pamphlets in local languages be distributed to spread awareness.
Failure to comply with these requirements would make the concerned official liable for departmental action. Not following these directions constitutes contempt of the Supreme Court, which is a serious offence, punishable by Imprisonment and fine. This contempt of court petition can be filed in any High Court.
These requirements are in addition to other rights and rules, such as:
The right to be informed at the time of arrest of the offence for which the person is being arrested.
The right to be presented before a magistrate within 24 hours of the arrest.
The right not to be ill-treated or tortured during arrest or in custody.
Confessions made in police custody cannot be used as evidence against the accused.
A boy under 15 years of age and women cannot be called to the police station only for questioning.
The constitution safeguards
The Constitution of India, which is the basic law of the country, provides protection to all persons from ill treatment and torture by the police and other state agencies.
Article 21
Guarantees the right to life and personal liberty to all persons.
Article 22
Lays down the rights available at the time of arrest and detention. These rights can be enforced by directly approaching the High Courts and the Supreme Court of India.
http://twocircles.net/2009sep30/illegal_arresting_torture_muslim_youths_gujarat_exposure.html#comment-46521
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