Pune, Sep 10 (PTI) The Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MSHRC) has recommended the registration of a First Information Report against top Pune police officials for alleged custodial torture, illegal detention, and public parading of Children in Conflict with Law by tying them to the bonnet of a vehicle.
Citing severe violations of human rights and dismantling of rule of law, the full bench of the Commission, comprising Chairman Justice A M Badar and members Sanjay Kumar and Swapna Joshi, directed the Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP) to treat its fact-finding inquiry report as an FIR.
“We recommend that as allegations are also against the present Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar, who is an officer of the rank of the Additional Director General of Police, necessary care of entrusting the investigation to the officer of the rank of Additional Director General of Police or above should be taken by the Director General of Police,” said the order.
The order follows a preliminary fact-finding inquiry conducted by a three-member committee comprising Special Inspector General of Police Dattatraya Karale, Superintendent of Police Vishwas Pandhare, and MSHRC Registrar Vijay Kedar.
The committee’s two-part report uncovered details of horrific police brutality and systematic psychological torture.
According to the report, on July 21 this year, personnel from the Bharti Vidyapeeth police station tied three minors detained in a murder case to the bonnet of a police vehicle using ropes fastened to the side mirrors.
These Children in Conflict with Law (CCLs) were publicly paraded from Ambegaon Pathar outpost to the police station while senior police inspector Mansingh Patil announced over a loudspeaker that they were suspects in a murder case.
The parade exposed the terrified minors to mob violence, with relatives of the deceased attempting to assault them, the report said.
The inquiry further established that minors were subjected to severe custodial violence, including beatings with fibre batons and bamboo sticks.
They were unlawfully detained in police lockups beyond the statutory limits between July 20 and July 24, before being presented to the Juvenile Justice Board, it added.
The committee also highlighted a separate incident involving the custodial beating and public shaming of four adults accused in a different case.
The MSHRC noted that Commissioner Amitesh Kumar was aware of the viral videos on the day of the incident but merely transferred the officers involved and issued a weak show-cause notice regarding holding of increment.
The MSHRC observed that Kumar, DCP Milind Mohite and ACP Rahul Aware abetted the offenders by failing to act, neglecting human rights protection, and attempting a “one-sided” inquiry.
Invoking Section 18(c) of Protection of Human Rights Act and relying on the Supreme Court’s mandate in Lalita Kumari v. Govt. of UP, the MSHRC emphasised that registering an FIR is mandatory when cognisable offences are disclosed.
“When law enforcement officers weaponize their authority to inflict such treatment on a child, they do not uphold the Rule of Law but utterly dismantle it,” the Commission observed.
It pointed out clear violations of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. PTI SPK BNM
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