In two years, 13 deaths in custody, no action against cops in most cases

In the most recent case, ASI Avtar Singh, accused in a drug smuggling case, killed himself using the AK-47 rifle of a policeman while in police custody in Amritsar.

Between April 2017 and June 2019, at least 13 people have died in police custody – including an assistant sub-inspector of police who allegedly shot himself dead in Amritsar Tuesday – and no police officer or jawan has been found guilty of negligence in the majority of cases, information provided by the Punjab government reveals.

Data with The Indian Express reveals that the maximum deaths in police custody have taken place in the Police Commissionerate of Ludhiana in last two years.

In the most recent case, ASI Avtar Singh, accused in a drug smuggling case, killed himself using the AK-47 rifle of a policeman while in police custody in Amritsar. He had been arrested on the night of August 11 along with his colleague Sub-Inspector Zorawar Singh on the allegations of drug trafficking.

In almost all the 13 cases of custodial deaths, judicial inquiries were held but no action was taken against the personnel posted at the police station as no one was found guilty.

In one of the recent cases in Fairdkot, one Jaspal Singh of village Panjawan in district Muktsar Sahib, committed suicide while in custody of the state Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) staff in Faridkot on the intervening night of May 18-19. A case was filed against Inspector Narinder Singh, who had arrested Jaspal Singh. However, Narinder Singh too committed suicide by the time an FIR was registered.

However, this remains one of the few cases in which police personnel were booked for death in custody. A challan has been presented in court in the case against two other accused policemen – Head Constable Darshan Singh and Sukhmandir Singh – and they are in judicial custody.

In all the cases of death in custody, judicial inquiries were held under Section 176 of CrPC and the stock statement given was that no official was found guilty.

In the case of another death in custody – that of one Sandeep Singh, a resident of village Iklahi, Khanna, on October 24, 2017 – the inquiry report says: “No official has been found guilty since the deceased committed suicide by hanging himself”. This, despite the fact that the police personnel responsible for custody of an accused are stipulated by regulations to ensure that the person behind the bars does not have any means to hang himself or put himself to any harm.

In some cases judicial inquiries are yet to conclude even more than a year after the death was reported. Harpreet Singh, a resident of Labour Colonel, Dugri, Ludhiana, died by allegedly hanging himself in the lock-up on March 25 last year. The findings of the inquiry in the case are still awaited.

In another case dating to May 10 last year, the judicial inquiry into the death of Joginder Singh, a resident of Tanda in Hoshiarpur, in police custody is also pending as it has not yet been cleared by Sessions Judge, Hoshiarpur.

Earlier, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had demanded a time-bound CBI probe into the “unending spree of custodial deaths” and alleged “suicides” in the state.

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