Yavatmal custodial deaths: Supreme Court orders FIR and CBI probe

The Supreme Court ordered an FIR on October 26 into the May 2003 alleged custodial death of two men in the office of Amitesh Kumar then the superintendent of police SP in Yavatmal Kumar is currently serving as the joint commissioner of police traffic division The SC observed an FIR needs to be registered and investigation carried outhellipthe matter may now be dealt with by the Central Bureau of InvestigationFrom left Ajay Mohite one of the deceased Shailesh Thakur the petitioner and Amitesh Kumar former SPThe petition the SC was hearing was filed by Yavatmalbased social worker Shailesh Thakur He was represented in SC by Sudhanshu S Choudhari After the SC order Kumar filed an application for permission to file an impleadment on November 8 as he is an aggrieved party in the case The SC dismissed the application on November 13When midday contacted Kumar to know why the order was dismissed he said The SC said since the order has not been passed against a specific person the impleadment application is not necessary Let the CBI investigate and they will reach a conclusionPan and poisonAccording to the January 2009 report of Maharashtra State Human Right Commission MSHRC the incident dates back to May 1 2003 when cops picked Suresh Sonukusare and Ajay Mohite for questioning about several thefts in Yavatmal Family members of the men alleged that after the two were taken to Kumars office they were tortured and given poison by the police which resulted in their deathThe commission also went through the reply filed by Kumar in October 2003 where he denied all the allegations and said Sonuskare and Mohite went out after lunch on the pretext of having pan bought pesticide and consumed it before returning The reply further says that the other accused present there smelled the pesticide and informed the cops Cops took Sonukusare and Mohite to the hospital where they were declared dead In Mohites pocket cops found a receipt of for the purchase of the pesticide EndosulfanA coram of justice Kshitij R Vyas former Chief Justice and member Subhash Lalla IAS was freshly constituted to hear and decide the matter It went through CID Amravatis investigation reports which concluded the deaths as suicide The complainants lawyer Vimal Vajpai argued the entire probe was carried out to save the senior officer The commissions report said calling the men to the SPs office would go on to suggest that the SP had some extra pressure and therefore he was keen to get the information at any costPost mortemMeanwhile the post mortem reports of the deceased revealed as many as seven abrasion injuries possibly inflicted with hard and blunt weapons The chemical analysis report indicated the detection of Nuvacan in the viscera which is different from the Endosulfan claimed by cops The Commissions reports states The entire theory suggested by policehellip appears to be unrealistic and unbelievable The injuries on their persons are suggestive of facts that they were beaten Even the theory that they went out to have pan does not appear to be probableThe commission also felt there was no need to take any extreme step since the men werent the accused According to the Commission Prima facie this is not a case of suicide but one of murder where deceased were killed by administering poison After this there was another investigation report by Rajendra Singh commissioner of police Aurangabad City dated August 6 2014 which also concluded the deaths as a suicideAlso view Photos Manushi Chillar wins Miss World 2017 crown