The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : SHRC inquiring into alleged illegal detention at police station

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Wednesday, Dec 03, 2008
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SHRC inquiring into alleged illegal detention at police station

Staff Reporter

Indiranagar police accused of keeping couple in illegal detention

— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Relatives of Janardhan at the Indiranagar Police Station in Bangalore on Tuesday.

BANGALORE: Just 10 days after finding a few persons being detained illegally in a police station in Bangalore, the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) is now inquiring into a similar complaint against the police personnel of another station in the city.

This time the Indiranagar police have been accused of keeping a 56-year-old man and his wife under alleged illegal detention.

According to the complaint filed with the SHRC, Janardhan (56), his wife Varalakshmi (48), their son J. Bhaktavatsalam and another relative, all residents of ITI colony in Dooravaninagar, were allegedly brought to the Indiranagar police station in connection with the investigation related to a case of theft.

Janardhan’s another son, Narayan, a car driver, has been accused of stealing Rs. 54 lakh related to Tata AIG firm in August. He is also accused of being involved in other cases of theft. Narayan is said to be at large.

Janardhan and his three relatives were allegedly brought to the police station on November 29. “My relative and I were released on November 30, while the police detained my parents. We were being asked to state about where my brother has gone,” Mr. Bhaktavatsalam said. He accused police of hitting his father and confining his parents for no reason. “I saw my father being hit badly,” he added. The police were asking the family members to accompany to places such as Salem for locating Narayan.

Mr. Bhaktavatsalam had brought the incident to the notice of the South India Cell for Human Rights Education and Monitoring (SICHREM), which lodged a complaint with the SHRC.

Not found

A team of SHRC led by Inspector-General of Police (SHRC) Bipin Gopalakrishna visited the police station on Tuesday evening. However, the team did not find any person being illegally confined.

But Mr. Bhaktavatsalam contended that he had seen his father and mother in the police station in the afternoon. “They are not seen now. See the jacket disposed in the cell,” said Mr. Bhaktavatsalam pointing to a blue jacket and trousers found in a cell. “The police have sent them to an undisclosed location,” he claimed.

Denied

Meanwhile, the Indiranagar police have denied the allegation. Police Inspector P.T. Thorat told the SHRC team that he had not brought anybody to question about the theft. Mr. Thorat told the SHRC team that the jacket and the trousers found in the cell were one of the many such sets used for persons who come to the station without proper clothes. It was on November 20, the SHRC team found six persons being allegedly detained illegally by the R.T. Nagar police.

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