Lucknow: Concluding that the killing of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf in police custody could not be “a result of a premeditated conspiracy of the state or police”, the judicial commission constituted by the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government to probe the incident has given a clean chit to the police.
The five-member commission, headed by former chief justice of Allahabad High Court Dilip B. Bhosale, said that it was not possible for the police to avoid the incident.
According to its 191-page report, the police officers’ decision of not shooting at the three attackers, who shot Atiq and Ashraf dead while they were being escorted for a medical check-up on 15 April 2023, was “correct”.
The report was tabled by the Uttar Pradesh government in the assembly Thursday. ThePrint has accessed a copy.
“Keeping in view the role of police, it cannot be said that the police resorted to negligence while their transportation (on two occasions from the Sabarmati jail, Ahmedabad to Naini central jail in Prayagraj, and from Naini central jail to court to Naini central jail to the Dhoomanganj police station) or while taking them from the Dhoomanganj police station to the Motilal Nehru hospital on the intervening night of 14-15 April, 2023,” the report read.
The incident was not the result of police negligence, nor was it possible for them to avoid it, the report added.
“The murders of Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf in the Motilal Nehru hospital was not a pre-planned act carried out at the behest of the state/police officers, but was inevitable in reality,” the commission said in the report.
The judicial commission also included former chief justice of Jharkhand High Court, Virendra Singh, former Allahabad High Court judge Arvind Kumar Tripathi, former district judge Brijesh Soni and former Uttar Pradesh director general of police, Subesh Kumar Singh.
In the report, the commission described why it felt that the sequence of events on the night of 15 April last year was “sudden and police’s reaction towards it was natural”.
It said that according to rules for police guards and escorts, there is a provision to take only three policemen while escorting an accused within the state, but the number of such policemen accompanying the accused outside the state is five.
“But for taking Atiq Ahmed to Sabarmati jail and back, and for taking Ashraf to Bareilly jail and back, more policemen had been deployed… When Atiq Ahmed and Khalid Azim (Ashraf) were taken in police custody, 21 policemen had been deployed in their protection,” the report said.
‘Failed to keep mediapersons away’
It further noted that the police had been regularly monitoring Atiq and Ashraf’s health and had not leaked the information about their movement from and towards the hospital. However, the media took an active interest in the brothers, the report said.
According to the commission’s observations, the microphones of the mediapersons were close to the mouths of Atiq and Ashraf, while they were escorted for medical examination at the hospital.
“The heavy use of flashlights by mediapersons had practically blinded the policemen,” the report read, adding that despite “best possible efforts”, the police was incapable of keeping reporters away from the two in the absence of clear directions to control the media.
“There is no method to ensure that the places where hardened criminals/accused are being taken, are first cleared and only chosen persons be allowed to contact the criminals,” it said.
‘Police’s decision of not shooting at attackers correct’
The commission further justified the police’s decision of not shooting at the assailants.
“The reactions of policemen at the time of the incident were not unnatural and they did not exhibit any kind of passivity… keeping in mind the nine-second duration in which the entire incident finished,” the report read. “The action of the attackers of throwing their weapons and the policemen’s attempt to catch the attackers makes it clear that the decision of the police officers not to shoot at the three attackers in retaliation to the murders of Atiq and Ashraf, was correct.”
The commission also noted that “for the first time, this type of style (pretending to be mediapersons) has been used for such a dreaded murder, and that too, of hardened gangsters”. According to the report, “the role of media has not been satisfactory”.
It claimed that the attackers took advantage of the trust reposed by the brothers in the media by publicly shooting them in front of the media, due to which the police officers were “shocked and surprised”.
Recommendations to avoid such incidents
The judicial commission made a slew of recommendations in the report on the procedure of escorting hardened criminals, including former MLAs/MPs/elected representatives, for medical examination in police custody.
“The government will identify hospitals for the purpose of medical examination of accused persons at the district and tehsil level, and a list of all such empanelled hospitals will be given to all police stations with strict directions. Accused persons under custody will be taken for such examination only in the hospitals in the list of empanelled hospitals in their own district/tehsil,” the report said.
The commission further suggested that the empanelled hospitals in consultation with the director general (medical and health services) must prepare a panel of doctors/specialists to look after and examine the accused persons, whenever they are brought to the hospitals. Such a list should be maintained and shared with the district police chief, and an amended list should be shared with the latter and the police stations from time to time, it said.
It also recommended that an accused should not be taken to private hospitals for medical check-up until the concerned police station has court direction to this effect.
The empanelled doctors from the hospitals should visit the police station to examine hardened criminals, gangsters and history sheeters in police custody after a written communication from the investigating officer. According to the recommendations, the hospital must maintain a register in which such communications will have to be recorded.
If the doctor recommends that the accused needs to be brought to the hospital, police officers must take them, but the cops and medical authorities must keep the visit secret.
The commission also recommended that the accused be taken to a hospital or well-furnished clinic in the district police lines if possible, and that to implement this, the government should take steps to improve the plight of hospitals/clinics in police lines.
It further said that if a doctor is called to a police station for an emergency, the police officer must take a diagnosis/treatment slip from the former, and preserve the same to produce it before the government doctor when required.
If possible, the follow-up action on the accused’s health situation must be done via telemedicine or online consultation by the doctor, the commission suggested. However, this would not stop the police officers from taking the accused to a government hospital during emergencies or unexpected situations.
Provision of mobile clinics by the government to doctors and employees associated with the civil hospitals was another suggestion.
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‘No homogenous infra to provide care to criminals in custody’
The commission also said in the report that the Uttar Pradesh police regulations, jail manual and medical manual have provisions for institutions for medical examination of accused persons, prisoners under trial and convicts, but there is no homogenous and contemporary structure or institution to provide care for such persons in custody.
While there is provision for establishing police hospitals in the state police regulations, there is no detailed rule for controlling such hospitals and their operations, and such hospitals only undertake the treatment of police officers.
The commission further noted that while the state jail manual has provisions for establishing hospitals in jails and appointing medical officers and other employees in these hospitals, and the medical manual gives accreditation to jail hospitals and police hospitals as facilities that fulfil special purpose, these regulations should be honestly followed as far as possible.
‘Adequate force deployment, distance from media’
It suggested that when a hardened criminal, gangster or history sheeter is taken to a hospital on the advice of a doctor, adequate force must be deployed in the hospital at least one or two hours prior to the transportation. This force must surround the hospital premises at least 10 minutes before the team’s arrival.
The police deployed in the hospital should cordon off the premises at the correct places, keep away media and the common public, and inspect each person entering the hospital premises during this period.
It further recommended that such criminals be taken to a hospital in closed police vehicles, and in private vehicles only if police vehicles are unavailable. Police must not allow mediapersons or anyone to go closer to the accused or try to talk to him/her.
“Media be kept on the other side of the cordon, and cordon be placed at the least gap required for the police vehicles to be parked,” it suggested, adding that all accused must be handcuffed personally and taken to the facility in a separate security circle.
It was further recommended that all gates of the hospital be covered with CCTVs, and an emergency panic button and centralised control room be set up in every hospital.
The commission also recommended that a door frame metal detector and bag scanner be installed on the main entrance of every hospital so that no banned objects can be taken inside. The accused must be provided with a dedicated and safe room, bereft of the common public’s movement.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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