Medak custodial torture: Telangana HC seeks response from chief secretary, police officers

Meanwhile, Khadeer’s wife Siddeshwari (Farzana Khan) approached the court Tuesday seeking direction to the state government to constitute a special investigation team to inquire into the death. She also sought a directive to the Medak SP to secure the CCTV footage of the police station and demanded a compensation of Rs 50 lakh. The court directed the petition to be tagged along with the suo motu writ petition taken up by the division bench.

Thirty-seven-year-old Khadeer was picked up by Medak town police on suspicion of his role in snatching gold chains from women. Later, in a video that was taken while he underwent treatment at Gandhi hospital, he could be heard saying that he was taken into custody on January 29 and beaten up brutally by Sub-Inspector A Rajshekar and police constables K Pavan Kumar and R Prashanth for five days.

After he was let off on February 2, according to his wife Siddeshwari, Khadeer could not stand on his feet. His kidneys were damaged and he was admitted to a private hospital on February 9. He was referred to Gandhi hospital in Hyderabad for better treatment. He died on the night of February 16.

A video in which he explained how he was assaulted by the police for four days has been widely shared on social media since then.

Telangana DGP Anjani Kumar had ordered the death of Khadeer to be probed by a deputy superintendent of police from the Kamareddy district under the supervision of Inspector General of Police (IGP) S Chandrashekar Reddy. Medak SP Rohini Priyadarshini then ordered the suspension of Circle Inspector Madhu, Sub-Inspector Rajasekhar, and police constables K Pavan Kumar and R Prashanth.