The injuries of the nightlong torture at the police station over a month ago still hurt. Anil Kumar Singh, 42, cannot sit properly, let alone walk or work in the field to feed his family, the after-effect of being hit with sticks till his trousers were covered in blood and petrol being poured into his rectum.
A month after running in vain from pillar to post despite excruciating pain seeking the registration of an FIR against the cops responsible for his plight, Singh, a tribal resident of Jharkhand’s Latehar district, has moved court against his alleged custodial torture on the suspicion of aiding Maoists. The case of Singh, who had been released the next day without any charges being pressed, had come to the notice of even chief minister Hemant Soren.
On Friday, Singh lodged a case in the court of additional district judge Manoj Kumar in the Latehar district court seeking the registration of an FIR against the cops he accuse of custodial torture.Soren had taken note of the matter after the social outfit Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha had tweeted to him. The chief minister had in early March ordered the police to take immediate cognisance of the matter and initiate strictest action against the accused cops, but not much appears to have been done since.
In his petition before the court, Singh has sought direction to the SC/ST police station in Latehar to lodge an FIR and initiate an investigation into the incident.
“It has been a month and my client has approached the thana where he stays, the ST/SC thana, the superintendent of police (Latehar) and the deputy commissioner (Latehar). But so far, no FIR has been registered against the policemen who had beaten him badly and tortured him before releasing him the next morning,” said advocate Birsa Munda.
“Refusal to register an FIR is a violation of Supreme Court orders. It is in light of this fact that we have lodged a complaint petition before the Latehar district court,” he added.
Singh, a resident of Kuku village in Garu block of Latehar, had gone to Chhipadohar police station (under whose jurisdiction his village falls) on March 2 to lodge an FIR against then Garu thana OC Ranjit Kumar Yadav. However, Chhipadohar OC Sujit Tiwary allegedly refused to register an FIR.
Yadav was benched and sent to the police barracks On March 3 after the chief minister ordered action in the case.
“I had gone to Chhipadohar thana with my complaint against the Garu thana OC who had reined 300 to 400 lathi blows on me along with two other cops and poured petrol into my anus on the night of February 23,” Singh had said earlier.
“The next day the police forced me to give them my blood-smeared trousers and underwear and asked me not to complain about it.
“The Chhipadohar thana OC refused to register my complaint and asked me to go to the police station where the incident took place and also said that since an SIT (special investigation team) has been formed to probe my case, a separate FIR cannot be lodged,” Singh had said.
He had said the police released him by saying they had “made a mistake”.
RTI activist Lal Mohan Singh of Latehar district said on Friday: “He is the sole breadwinner for his family, which has his wife Manita Devi and three children (two minor sons and a minor daughter). He cannot sit because of pain and is barely able to walk properly. Since that fateful day, he has not been able to work in the field to earn a livelihood. There is immense pain in the lower portion of his body. It is unfortunate that the police have failed to lodge an FIR.”
Latehar police chief Anjani Anjan said he had no knowledge of any refusal to lodge an FIR against the accused cops.
“Any victim can go to the police station and if the concerned police station officer refuses, then the victim can approach senior police officers for the lodging of an FIR or can register a complaint petition in court. Since in this case the victim has approached court, we will abide by its directive,” Anjan said.
