Human rights body calls police's bluff, unravels custodial death mystery

Flour mill belt used to beat him upThe Central Bureau of Investigation CBIacircu00c2u0080u00c2u0088got a morale booster from the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission MSHRC yesterday The commission lauded the agency for its investigation into the custodial death of a 40yearold resident of Dhobi Ghat in December 2012 at the Dharavi police station and ordered the state director general of police to sensitise his personnel on various human rights violationsJulfar was allegedly thrashed by the Dharavi police while in custody in 2012Chairman of MSHRC Justice SR Bannurmath and member MA Sayeed passed the order in the case yesterday based on the evidence and report compiled by the CBIA senior CBI officer said The commission directed the state director general of police to ensure that custodial death cases are referred to an independent investigating agency like the CBI and the guidelines set by the Supreme Court to prevent custodial torture followed see box What SC says The order also dealt with sensitising the police on human rights as well as awarding an interim relief Rs 1 lakh to the kin of the deceasedJulfars brother Menzel and son Noorhasan at the spot in Dharavi where he was picked up by the policeThe officer said the MSHRC also appreciated the extensive probe carried out by the CBIKilled by stateJulfar alias Rafiq Kamu Shaikh a resident of Dhobi Ghat in Cuffe Parade was caught with fake currency amounting to R120 lakh on November 29 2012 During his questioning Assistant Police Inspector API Irfan Shaikh and his team from Dharavi police station allegedly beat him up with his bare hands as well as with a transmission belt used in flour mills in an attempt to get information out of him On the fourth day of his alleged torture he collapsed and died within hoursAll policemen involved in the custodial death continue to be in service but have been given side postings The criminal case mdash in which the CBI filed a supplementary chargesheet on July 21 2015 mdash will come up before the 37th metropolitan magistrate court on September 4The Bombay High Court ordered the CBI to probe the death after criminal lawyer Yug Chaudhry moved a petition on behalf of Julfars familyThe CBI charged API Shaikh and Police Naik Chandrakant Shirkar under sections 304 part II culpable Homicide not amounting to murder 330 voluntarily causing hurt to extort confession and 34 one by several persons in furtherance of common intention of the Indian Penal CodeAccording to the supplementary chargesheet both Shaikh and Shirkar beat up Julfar with bare hands and with a flour mill belt with the knowledge that the beatings would cause injuries to JulfarThe postmortem examination report the opinion of the medical board of Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education amp Research Chandigarh the statements of witnesses established that the 21 external injuries on Julfars body were caused by the police personnelLawyer disappointedChaudhry however was disappointed with the quantum of compensation Is Rs 1 lakh the price of a human life Is life so cheap he ruedAccording to Chaudhry not only were Shaikh and Shirkar not arrested but the flour mill belt and the hook to which Julfar was tied was also not taken into custodyThe policemen accused of causing the death continue to be in service The state has not even suspended them We have come across umpteen custodial death cases but not a single policemen has ever been arrested