Patna, Sept. 11: The mysterious death of one Ram Chandra Sharma, a resident of Jamuhar village, in the hazat (lock-up) of the Dehri police station in Rohtas on Saturday, has exposed the chinks in the security arrangements at the police stations in Bihar.
A few days ago a noted businessman Anand Prasad Anand had died in the custody of the CBI in Patna.
Sharma, who was arrested on the charge of theft of copper wire, was found unconscious at the lock-up of the police station situated in the heart of Dehri town, at around 4pm. He was immediately rushed to a government hospital where the doctors declared him “brought dead”.
Taking a serious note of the matter, Rohtas superintendent of police Manu Maharaj ordered an inquiry into the circumstances leading to the death of the detainees in the police lock-up. Assistant superintendent of police (ASP) Kumar Amar Singh has been assigned to probe the incident, he added.
The SP said: “In any way the negligence on the part of the thana officials can’t be ruled out. Action will be taken against the erring officials on the basis of the findings of the departmental inquiry,” he said, adding that the report of the ASP was awaited.
The SP told The Telegraph over phone today ]that the post-mortem had been conducted according to the guidelines of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) with regard to custodial death.
“The post-mortem has been done under the supervision of a magistrate and video recorded,” he said.
Deputy inspector-general (Magadh range) Nayyar Hasnain Khan, who is also holding the additional charge of Shahabad range, said instructions have been issued to the district police chief to follow all the guidelines of the NHRC and intimate the commission within 24 hours of the incident.
The DIG expressed surprise over the manner the 45-year-old man committed suicide in the lock-up. The lock-up at the police station is on the campus and the man lodged in the hazat taking the extreme step in daylight that too in the presence of policemen smells something foul, he added.
He, however, said that no signs of physical torture were found on the victim’s body. “The real picture will emerge only after the post-mortem report comes, which is awaited,” the DIG said, adding that in any case, the erring cops would not be spared.
Prior to the death of Sharma in the police lock-up at Dehri, a 55-year-old businessman Anand Prakash Anand, who was arrested by a CBI team from his Esahari residence under Nimiagarh police station in Jharkhand’s Giridih district, died. Anand, an accused in a bank fraud case was to be produced in the special CBI court in Patna on the next day.
On April 21, a 22-year-old physically challenged youth, Satish Kumar, who was picked up by the Gaya police on suspicion of being involved in a theft case, had died in the lock-up of Civil Lines police station. The death led to protest by residents, who demanded a probe into the incident. The state later ordered a magisterial inquiry.
The official data compiled by the NHRC suggested that the incidents of custodial death had increased in Bihar in the past few years. The state recorded 413 deaths from 2008-09 to 2010-2011 (March). Maharashtra topped the list of custodial deaths by registering 419 cases.
The NHRC has framed guidelines for reporting all deaths and cases of custodial deaths whether natural or otherwise within 24 hours of their occurrence and also prepares reports to ascertain any foul play by police and government officials.
Moreover, as per Section 176 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) the district administration is required to conduct mandatory judicial enquiry in case of death, disappearance or rape of an inmate and conduct a thorough medical examination within 24 hours in case of death, a senior police officer associated with the state’s human rights cell said.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau, 781 inmates died in Bihar’s jails between 2004 and 2009.
