Date:07/06/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/06/07/stories/2003060706060500.htm

Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai

Let CB-CID probe police excesses: rights panel

By K.T. Sangameswaran

CHENNAI JUNE 6. Taking serious note of yet another instance of blatant human rights violation, the Tamil Nadu Human Rights Commission has ordered the Home Secretary to pay a compensation of Rs. 2.50 lakhs to a person for excesses committed by four police officials, including a Deputy Superintendent.

The Secretary should recover Rs. 1 lakh from the pay of the DSP and Rs. 50,000 each from the others.

The rights body member, S. Sambandham, said investigation of the case should be entrusted to the CB-CID, which will register a case against the police officials for offences, including extortion.

K. Govindaraj, an ex-serviceman of Kovilpatti, said he was running a readymade garments business. In October 2001, when he was staying in the second class waiting hall at Chennai Central, to take a train for Surat, the police checked his baggage and on finding Rs. 83,500 cash in it, they became suspicious, took him to the railway police station and branded him a thief, despite his pleadings and producing an identity card. At the police station, he was beaten up and hung upside down. The police said some cases were lying undetected and he was asked to plead guilty but he refused to do so. He was then asked to ring up his wife asking her to bring more money for the police. Her wife pledged her jewellery and sent Rs. 30,000. The police took from him Rs. 3,400 in cash, a gold bracelet, a ring and a cellphone. Later, the police put a screw driver, a chain cutter and a cigarette packet in his suitcase. After nearly a fortnight's illegal detention, he was produced before a magistrate and remanded. By his efforts, he was released, after a month's custody, on bail, only to be remanded by the railway police in a Coimbatore case. Later he was released on conditional bail.

G. Balakrishnan, DSP (at present working as Deputy Director, Anti-Adulteration Cell, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas); A. Udayakumar, then railway police inspector, now with the CB-CID in Tiruvannamalai; D.R. Venkatesan and K. Kayambu, Special sub-inspectors, law and order and crime, railway police, Chennai Central were cited as respondents.

In his order, the member said that despite the grave allegations against the DSP, the police official did not get into the witness box to deny the charges. The victim produced evidence to show he was at Virudhunagar on August 20, 2001, on which date, the police said, he had committed theft in Chennai. Evidence of six witnesses and the statement by Mr. Venkatesan to the DSP, failure of the DSP to get into the witness box and the alleged cloakroom receipt said to have been seized by the police clearly showed that the complainant was taken into illegal custody, his money and jewellery were illegally seized, money was extorted from him and he was tortured.

The railway police SP's report showed it was prepared by him only to protect his subordinates.