UP custody death: Doctors contradict post-mortem report

Balbir,from Isoli village in Etah,was arrested on April 23 and died on May 18. The villagers,who alleged that drunk policemen tortured him and injected him with petrol to extract a confession,blocked the Agra-Etah highway for three hours on May 20 in protest.

Faced with a law and order problem,senior officials such as the Senior Superintendent of Police,the District Magistrate and others visited the family. They promised 25 bighas of land and suspended Sub-Inspector Shailesh Yadav and homeguard Naresh.

Mantu Singh,a villager who accompanied him on his trip from a hospital in Etah first to Agra and then to Lucknow,said Balbir was conscious and coherent. “He kept telling me that he was going to die. He said that four policemen including the SI,Shailesh Yadav,were drunk and forcing them to confess. They took injections and drew petrol from parked vehicles and then injected them into his anus. All four (suspects in the case) were assaulted,but because Balbir refused to confess,he was singled out. I haven’t spoken to the other three. They are still in prison,” he said. Mantu Singh reached the hospital after Balbir’s family got a call from the police saying he had fallen ill.

On the condition of anonymity,a constable who was present that night,said “baat haath se nikal gayi” (things went out of hand). “They were being interrogated and Balbir was being stubborn. Unko maara tha (he was beaten up),” the constable said. When asked how much,he said,“Bahut (a lot).” Faced with the question of the injection of petrol,the constable said,“Don’t ask me all this. But yes,we do keep injections in the thana in case of a medical emergency.”

Doctors at the Etah District Hospital where Balbir was first brought confirmed he had been tortured. When one of the doctors who treated Balbir was asked if there was evidence of third degree,he said,“Yes,there was. There were injury marks all over his body,and three marks of what seemed like an injection near his anus. The area had turned blue,showing the presence of some foreign fluid. He showed no symptoms of a lung disease. If that was so,we would have been able to treat him here and wouldn’t have referred him.” The doctor refused to be identified,as he was afraid of being “targeted by the administration.” The claim is corroborated by the entry made in the MLCR (Medico Legal Case Records) register,which The Indian Express has seen. This is the register used to document those who are brought to the hospital by the police.

However,armed with the post-mortem report from PGI,Lucknow,the police said Balbir died of a lung infection. “It is not that we took no action. The personnel were suspended,and a case under sections 326 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and 331(voluntarily causing hurt to extort confession) were registered. But according to our investigations,Balbir died because of a lung infection,” said Radhe Mohan Bhardwaj,ASP.