Bengaluru, Aug 31: Prominent human rights organisations disagree with the police on the recent death of a youth in police custody in Chennagiri, Davangere district of Karnataka and the aftermath. A fact-finding committee of these organisations visited the affected areas and met the victims, their families and other stakeholders and prepared a report, which was released here recently.
Members of Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), All India Lawyers Association for Justice (AILAJ), Bahutva Karnataka, and People’s Union for Civil Liberties Karnataka (PUCL) who addressed a joint press conference questioned the role of the police.
The report states that on May 24, 2024, the police detained a youth named Adil, on charges of gambling. Adil died in the police custody. Adil’s family was not informed of his death until the post-mortem was completed. As the news of the youth’s death spread due to alleged police brutality, people protested outside the police station and demanded action against the police officials concerned. Meanwhile, some protesters also threw stones at the police and police vehicles.
The police registered 6 FIRs against 300 people and arrested 47 people arbitrarily. According to the report, all the accused have been charged with unlawful assembly, rioting and damage to property. After the protests, the case of Adil’s death in police custody was handed over to the CID.
APCR Secretary of Davangere district Nizamuddin pointed out the conflicting information in the case of Adil’s arrest. He said the family of the deceased was neither informed about his arrest nor the reason for his arrest until late at night. It further stated that the absence of CCTV cameras at the police station where Adil was detained has worsened the situation, raising many questions which are yet to be answered. Afraid of the police backlash, many residents of Chinnagiri fled from the village.
Amiya Bokal, an AILAJ member, shockingly revealed that the offense under which deceased Adil was arrested was not a cognizable offence. According to him, if an arrest was to be made, it was necessary to first issue a warrant. Bokal said that not having CCTV cameras at the police station is a clear violation of Supreme Court orders. According to him, if a prisoner dies in custody, as per the law, an inquiry should have been conducted by a magistrate, but it was not done. It further said that though Adil’s death has been registered as unnatural, it’s not yet known whether he died due to illness or police brutality. During our investigation, we came to know that even after three months of the incident, no FIR has been registered in connection with Adil’s death.
Kishore Govinda, a PUCL member, while describing the events after the arrest, said that after the news of Adil’s death in police custody, around 2,000 people gathered outside the police station. People wanted to know how the youth had died at the police station, but later the police gathered outside the police station and arrested 47 people for rioting and vandalism, many of whom were in the area during the demonstration. He said he was not there.
Kishore said that during the interrogation of the families of 47 arrested persons, it was found that the police had arrested all of them illegally. Some families were not even aware of the arrest of their relatives. According to the information provided by the families, some of the arrested were brutally beaten by the police in custody. Kishore said that many of the arrested people belong to poor and financially weak families, whose arrest has had a profound impact on their families.
PUCL’s Aishwarya Ravi Kumar, on behalf of the fact-finding committee, demanded the government to provide financial assistance to Adil’s family, help for his children’s education, immediate relief for the family members. Employment opportunities should be provided. He also demanded that a clean and transparent inquiry be conducted into Adil’s death in police custody. He said that many flaws have been highlighted in the police system regarding his death, considering which the government should take immediate action. He also demanded that the cases against the innocent people arrested for protesting outside the police station after Adil’s death be withdrawn.
