For the last three days, a group of 15-20 men have been sitting on dharna outside Vejalpur police station in Ahmedabad’s Juhapura, gathered around a large banner that reads in Gujarati, “Son made a video of police brutality; the result was the death of his father”.
The ‘father’ is 70-year-old Zahiruddin alias Dabbo Gyasuddin Shaikh, who has been accused by police in a case of cow slaughter. His photo is on the banner; his body has been lying in the mortuary of SVP Hospital about 5 km away.
Zahiruddin died in the custody of the Vejalpur police on Wednesday (May 20) morning. The family has alleged that police assaulted him and gave him some pills, which led to the death.
They have refused to accept the body until an FIR is registered against three policemen allegedly involved in the assault.
Zahiruddin suffered from severe diabetes, and had high blood pressure and cholesterol, the lawyer for the family said. Police have said that preliminary findings of a forensic examination suggest that the death was caused by an overdose of prescription medical drugs.
Zahiruddin was arrested on May 16 after Vejalpur police recovered 520 kg of alleged cow meat and a live white calf on May 5. Nine individuals were arrested, and police accused Zahiruddin of being the leader of the alleged illegal cow slaughter ring.
“A case was registered at Vejalpur police station on May 5. The deceased person, Zahiruddin Shaikh, was absconding. On May 16, Zahiruddin was going to the hospital at about 10.30 am when Sarkhej police arrested him,” advocate Nauman Ghanchi, who represents all nine accused, as well as Zahiruddin’s son Taufiq in the custodial death case, said.
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“When I went there (Sarkhej police station in Ahmedabad), I was told that Vejalpur police would take his custody shortly. A few hours later, I learned that his condition had deteriorated in Sarkhej police station, and he had been taken to GMERS Sola Civil Hospital (about 12 km away) by ambulance,” Ghanchi said.
According to the lawyer, Vejalpur police took Zahiruddin into their custody after he was discharged from hospital on May 18. “They did not allow the family or their lawyer Shehzad Ansari to meet Zahiruddin, even to give him his medication,” Ghanchi said.
According to Ghanchi, Zahiruddin’s health deteriorated sharply between 1.30 am and 2 am on May 19, and police took him to the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital in Asarwa. Around 7 am, as his condition worsened, the family demanded that Zahiruddin be taken to SVP Hospital.
At SVP Hospital, Zahiruddin was put on ventilator support, but he died around 8 am on May 20, Ghanchi said.
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Police said an Accidental Death (AD) report had been registered at the Vejalpur police station. Zahiruddin’s son Taufiq Shaikh has alleged that police brutality led to the death, and this allegation is being investigated by ACP S M Patel of ‘N’ Division of the Ahmedabad Police.
ACP A B Valand of the ‘M Division’ of the Ahmedabad Police told The Indian Express, “The main allegations of the petitioner are that the police staff assaulted his father and gave him some pills. We want to make it clear that the inquest panchnama of the body was carried out in the presence of a Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) with videography, which shows zero injuries on the body of the deceased.
“Secondly”, Valand said, “we have a report from the hospital where, when the doctor asked Zahiruddin Shaikh about medical history, he said that he had consumed 90 tablets of his own accord.”
A 14-second video, allegedly made by Taufiq, purportedly shows Zahiruddin on a stretcher, saying that his beard was pulled and that he was kicked in his private parts while in custody.
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On the purported video, Valand said, “We have asked for the medicine strips [allegedly given to Zahiruddin] and the stretcher video from the petitioner (Taufiq) but we have not received them yet.”
Valand said that following a post mortem examination, the Forensic Science Lab had given the preliminary cause of death as an overdose of medical drugs. However, police are yet to receive the full forensic report, Valand said.
According to the FIR against Zahiruddin and the other accused, the Surveillance Squad (‘D’ Staff) had received information that animals were being slaughtered at an open ground near Yasmin Society close to Sonal Cinema. An animal was allegedly being slaughtered at the site, and police apprehended three men, Mustaq Tahir Malariwala (28), Raees Inayat Hussain Shaikh (23), and Munaf alias Kaalu alias Hakko Mohammad Mir (32).
The police allegedly found 520 kg of cow meat (“gauvansh maas”) worth Rs 1,56,000, and a live white calf worth Rs 10,000, which had been “cruelly tied up” at the site.
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The accused were booked under sections of the state’s anti-cow slaughter law, the Gujarat Animal Preservation Act, 1954, the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations Act, 1949, and Section 325 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS), which deals with “mischief by killing or maiming animal”).
Before the allegations relating to the death of Zahiruddin Shaikh in custody, similar allegations had surfaced with regard to another accused in the case. A video had surfaced on May 6, showing a man purported to be Raees Inayat Hussain Shaikh, who had been picked up at the spot of the alleged cow slaughter, being held face down on the bonnet of a police vehicle while being beaten with sticks.
On this video, ACP Valand said, “It has not been confirmed that the video shows personnel from Vejalpur police station. Secondly, the police have not received any complaints in that matter. The police have not investigated the matter because such videos are rampant all across India and this video could be from anywhere. The Mahindra Bolero is used as a police vehicle everywhere. We also cannot rule out the use of AI to create the video.”
The family has also alleged that Zahiruddin was assaulted in custody by the same three officers who had also beaten him more than two years ago.
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“Zahiruddin Shaikh had filed a complaint in the court of the chief judicial magistrate, Ahmedabad Rural, that he was assaulted by these same three officers who had arrested him in a similar case of alleged animal cruelty two years ago,” advocate Ghanchi said.
“That case is sub judice. We believe that the police officers assaulted him again due to their personal grievance. There was no action against these three officers then, and there has been none now,” Ghanchi said.
On these allegations, ACP Valand said, “…The accused can make an allegation but the court peruses the matter and then takes action. In this case, the previous allegations are still sub judice. This man has made allegations against police staff of all police stations where he has been arrested.”
ACP Valand said there were 16 cases against Zahiruddin Shaikh dating back to 2002. Eight of these were filed at Vejalpur police station. He had also been detained under the Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act, 1985 (PASA Act) five times between 2002 and 2020, Valand said.
