Chandigarh, Sep 5 (PTI) The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken cognisance of a complaint filed by BJP Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Chugh over the alleged custodial torture of a Sikh man by police personnel in Punjab’s Sangrur district, and sought a report within two weeks.
The NHRC bench, presided over by member Priyank Kanoongo, directed the Punjab chief secretary, the director general of police, the Sangrur superintendent of police, and the district magistrate to conduct an immediate inquiry, medico-legal examination, and preservation of CCTV footage and police records.
The panel has also demanded a point-wise action taken report, which is to be filed within two weeks.
The move comes a day after Chugh urged the NHRC to send an independent fact-finding team to Sheron village, where victim Mohanjit Singh showed black flag to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, and the police station concerned, where he was allegedly tortured.
Singh, a resident of the village, had claimed that he was detained after showing a black flag at Mann’s ‘Lok Milni’ programme on September 2 as a form of protest against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s handling of the drug menace in Punjab.
He claimed that during police custody he was given an electric shock, his beard was pulled, salt was rubbed on his wounds, and his undergarment was torn.
The allegations triggered a massive political row in Punjab, with the opposition demanding the AAP government take stern action against the concerned police officers.
Amid the mounting criticism, the Punjab Police transferred Sangrur rural Deputy Superintendent of Police Harvinder Singh and shifted three other officers, including an inspector, to police lines.
In light of Singh’s allegations of custodial torture, the NHRC bench has directed an immediate medico-legal examination, preservation of complete and unedited CCTV footage of the police premises where he was tortured and submission of an authenticated copy on a pen drive.
The authorities have been told to furnish the FIR and custody records, details of all police personnel connected with his detention and interrogation, and a report on the allegations concerning the victim’s family members.
Reacting to the NHRC’s decision, Chugh, who represents Madhya Pradesh, said the commission’s action is a “serious” development and a “strong indictment” of the AAP government’s handling of human rights in Punjab.
“This comes even as CM @BhagwantMann has merely transferred the DSP involved in the matter, which is nothing but a mere attempt to sweep the matter under the carpet,” Chugh said in a post on X.
“A transfer is not accountability. The NHRC’s intervention must now ensure that the truth comes out and every person found responsible for custodial brutality is held strictly accountable,” he added. PTI CHS KSI KSI
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