The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) regarding the abduction of a Human Rights Defender, Gambhira Prasad, allegedly by policemen wearing civilian clothes. Mr. Prasad was abducted at 7 p.m. on April 20, 2015, from Baba Chauraha in Allahabad District of Uttar Pradesh immediately after he met with advocate Mr. Ravikiran Jain to discuss a case that his organisation Kanhar Bachao Andolan has been fighting. The case centers on imminent land acquisition and displacement in relation to the Kanhar Irrigation Project in Sonbhadra District. Local residents failed to foil the abduction of Mr. Prasad. However, they succeeded in nabbing three of the abductors and took them to the Cantt. Police Station. Cantt. Police informed them that the abductors were none other than policemen from Sonbhadra. The Cantt. Police proceeded to release the alleged Sonbhadra policemen without demanding any identity papers from them.
CASE NARRATIVE:
Less than a week after the police repeatedly fired at members of the Kanhar Bachao Andolan (Save Kanhar Movement) in Sonbhadra, unknown persons abducted one of the protest leaders, Gambhira Prasad, from Baba Chauraha in Ashok Nagar locality of Allahabad at 7 p.m. on April 20, 2015. Mr. Prasad had gone to Allahabad to meet the lawyer fighting cases on behalf of Save Kanhar Movement. Mr. Prasad was attempting to get legal documents photocopied when the abductors struck. The abductors, all dressed in civilian clothes, arrived in a Scorpio (a sports utility vehicle) and tried to drag Mr. Prasad into the vehicle.
Locals present saw this and tried to foil the attempt. While they failed to stop the abduction, they succeeded in nabbing three of the seven abductors, and took these three to the Cantt. Police Station. PUCL leaders also rushed to the Police Station to inquire about the incident and the safety of Mr. Prasad. The Cantt. Police told them that those nabbed by the people are policemen from Sonbhadra District. However the Cantt, Police proceeded to let these men go without demanding any identity documents to confirm that they were indeed policemen from Sonbhadra District. The Cantt. Police conceded that the Sonbhadra Police had not informed them prior to this operation, as mandated by law, and that they had no idea of their presence in the area. They further conceded that the action against Mr. Prasad was not a joint one.
The Cantt. Police version exposes how the Uttar Pradesh police are violating guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court for making arrests. It also gives rise to strong suspicion about the real intent of the Sonbhadra Police, which has chosen to try and abduct a citizen. The abduction might have been attempted to eliminate Mr. Prasad in an extrajudicial killing. Such killings, following abduction, are a routine practice law enforcers indulge in across India.
Because of public pressure generated in this case, the Sonbhadra Police, who had abducted Mr. Prasad, had to bring him back to the Cantt. Police Station at midnight. According to the most recent information, the Police has taken him to Sonbhadra though it is unclear if they obtained mandatory transit remand from a magistrate for doing the same.
The Sonbhadra administration has been upset with Mr. Prasad for leading protests against the Kanhar Sinchai Pariyojana (Kanhar Irrigation Project) that commenced construction in 1980-81 but gained momentum only in the latter half of 2014, when the state started small-scale constructions on the riverbed.
The construction is in clear violation of the guidelines laid by the National Green Tribunal, as the project lacks mandatory clearances from the Ministry of Environment. It also lacks mandatory clearances from the Central Pollution Control Board despite the project authorities’ claim to have obtained an environmental clearance in 1980. This claim holds no water as the project requires a fresh “Environment Clearance” under the EIA Notification, 2006, and also a Forest Clearance under the provisions of Forests Rights Act, 2006. The proposed project also violates provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. The project would require acquisition of lands of at least 87 villages. And, several mandatory procedures related to this acquisition have not been complied with: project affected families have not been identified and the government has not even initiated the process of consulting with the Gram Sabhas, the consent of these village bodies being central for any such acquisition under the 2013 law.
The people affected by the project have organized themselves as the Kanhar Bachao Andolan and have lodged complaints with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) over environmental and pollution clearances not have been obtained. They have also filed a case with the High Court of Allahabad against the proposed acquisitions.
After listening to the arguments, on December 24, 2014, Justice Swatanter Kumar of the NGT issued an interim order staying all construction activities until the project gets environment and forest clearance as prescribed under law.
The administration has instead chosen to violate the order and has gone ahead with construction, incensing the people who began a sit-in in protest. The protesters assembled at the proposed dam site on April 14, 2015, where the police, allegedly, opened fire without any provocation. The firing injured several protesters. Aglu Khairwar, one of them, has suffered bullet injuries to his head and is struggling for life in Banaras Hindu University Hospital in Varanasi District. The police targeted the protesters again, this time in their villages, particularly in Sundari, on the morning of April 18, 2015. It was in this context that Mr. Prasad was visiting the lawyer who is arguing the Andolan’s case in the High Court.
SUGGESTED ACTION
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SAMPLE LETTER
Dear …………….,
INDIA: Police attempts to abduct Adivasi Human Rights Defender Gambhira Prasad
Name of the victims:
1. Mr. Gambhira Prasad
Alleged Perpetrators:
Persoonel of Sobhadra Police
Date of incident: 20 April 2015
Place of incident: Baba Chauraha, Ashok Nagar, Allahabad.
I am writing to you with grave concern over the attempted abduction of Human Rights Defender Mr. Gambhira Prasad by Sonbhadra Police, as confirmed by the officers of Cantt. Police Station, Allahabad. Less than a week after the police repeatedly fired at members of the Kanhar Bachao Andolan (Save Kanhar Movement) in Sonbhadra, unknown persons abducted one of the protest leaders, Gambhira Prasad, from Baba Chauraha in Ashok Nagar locality of Allahabad at 7 p.m. on April 20, 2015. Mr. Prasad had gone to Allahabad to meet the lawyer fighting cases on behalf of Save Kanhar Movement. Mr. Prasad was attempting to get legal documents photocopied when the abductors struck. The abductors, all dressed in civilian clothes, arrived in a Scorpio (a sports utility vehicle) and tried to drag Mr. Prasad into the vehicle.
Locals present saw this and tried to foil the attempt. While they failed to stop the abduction, they succeeded in nabbing three of the seven abductors, and took these three to the Cantt. Police Station. PUCL leaders also rushed to the Police Station to inquire about the incident and the safety of Mr. Prasad. The Cantt. Police told them that those nabbed by the people are policemen from Sonbhadra District. However the Cantt, Police proceeded to let these men go without demanding any identity documents to confirm that they were indeed policemen from Sonbhadra District. The Cantt. Police conceded that the Sonbhadra Police had not informed them prior to this operation, as mandated by law, and that they had no idea of their presence in the area. They further conceded that the action against Mr. Prasad was not a joint one.
The Cantt. Police version exposes how the Uttar Pradesh police are violating guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court for making arrests. It also gives rise to strong suspicion about the real intent of the Sonbhadra Police, which has chosen to try and abduct a citizen. The abduction might have been attempted to eliminate Mr. Prasad in an extrajudicial killing. Such killings, following abduction, are a routine practice law enforcers indulge in across India.
Because of public pressure generated in this case, the Sonbhadra Police, who had abducted Mr. Prasad, had to bring him back to the Cantt. Police Station at midnight. According to the most recent information, the Police has taken him to Sonbhadra though it is unclear if they obtained mandatory transit remand from a magistrate for doing the same.
The Sonbhadra administration has been upset with Mr. Prasad for leading protests against the Kanhar Sinchai Pariyojana (Kanhar Irrigation Project) that commenced construction in 1980-81 but gained momentum only in the latter half of 2014, when the state started small-scale constructions on the riverbed.
The construction is in clear violation of the guidelines laid by the National Green Tribunal, as the project lacks mandatory clearances from the Ministry of Environment. It also lacks mandatory clearances from the Central Pollution Control Board despite the project authorities’ claim to have obtained an environmental clearance in 1980. This claim holds no water as the project requires a fresh “Environment Clearance” under the EIA Notification, 2006, and also a Forest Clearance under the provisions of Forests Rights Act, 2006. The proposed project also violates provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. The project would require acquisition of lands of at least 87 villages. And, several mandatory procedures related to this acquisition have not been complied with: project affected families have not been identified and the government has not even initiated the process of consulting with the Gram Sabhas, the consent of these village bodies being central for any such acquisition under the 2013 law.
The people affected by the project have organized themselves as the Kanhar Bachao Andolan and have lodged complaints with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) over environmental and pollution clearances not have been obtained. They have also filed a case with the High Court of Allahabad against the proposed acquisitions.
After listening to the arguments, on December 24, 2014, Justice Swatanter Kumar of the NGT issued an interim order staying all construction activities until the project gets environment and forest clearance as prescribed under law.
The administration has instead chosen to violate the order and has gone ahead with construction, incensing the people who began a sit-in in protest. The protesters assembled at the proposed dam site on April 14, 2015, where the police, allegedly, opened fire without any provocation. The firing injured several protesters. Aglu Khairwar, one of them, has suffered bullet injuries to his head and is struggling for life in Banaras Hindu University Hospital in Varanasi District. The police targeted the protesters again, this time in their villages, particularly in Sundari, on the morning of April 18, 2015. It was in this context that Mr. Prasad was visiting the lawyer who is arguing the Andolan’s case in the High Court.
I, therefore, request you to ensure that
1. The abductors wearing civilian clothes are identified and prosecuted for violating the Supreme Court’s guidelines for making arrests;
2. An impartial and prompt investigation is carried out to ascertain the motives of the Sonbhadra Police for attempting the abduction without informing their Allahabad counterparts as mandated and command responsibility be fixed in case any wrongdoing is found;
3. An impartial and independent investigation is conducted to find out why Cantt. Police Station staff let off the abductors nabbed by the public despite conceding that these policemen in civilian dress had violated the law by not informing them and those found guilty are prosecuted;
4. Safety of life and person of Mr. Prasad and other activists of Kanhar Bachao Andolan is guaranteed.
Yours Sincerely,
——————-
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. Rajnath Singh
Union Home Minister
Ministry of Home Affairs, North Block
Central Secretariat, New Delhi – 110001
INDIA
Fax: +91 11 23092979
Email: jscpg-mha@nic.in
2. Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission of India
Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg
New Delhi-110001
INDIA
Fax: +91 11 2334 0016
E-mail: chairnhrc@nic.in
3. Dr. P. L. Punia
Chairperson
National Commission for Scheduled Castes
Floor 5, Lok Nayak Bhavan
Khan Market
New Delhi-110003
INDIA
Fax: 91-11-24632298
Email: chairman-ncsc@nic.in
4. Shri L.C.Goyal
Home Secretary
Ministry of Home Affairs, North Block
Central Secretariat
New Delhi – 110001
INDIA
Fax: Fax: +91 11 23093003
Email: hshso@nic.in
6.. Mr Justice U K Dhaon
Acting Chairman,
U P State Human Right Commission
TC-34, V-1, Vibhuti Khand,
Gomti Nagar, Lucknow
Uttar Pradesh
INDIA
Email: uphrclko@yahoo.co.in,
7. Shri Akhilesh Yadav
Chief Minister
Lucknow,
Uttar Pradesh
INDIA
Fax: 0522 2236838
Email: cmup@nic.in
8.. Shri Alok Ranjan
Chief Secretary
Lucknow
Uttar Pradesh
INDIA
Fax: +91 522 2239283
Email: csup@nic.in
9. Shri Arvind Kumar Jain
DGP Uttar Pradesh
1, Tilak Marg, Lucknow
Uttar Pradesh
INDIA
Fax: 0552-2206120
Email: dgp@up.nic.in
10. Shri Sanjay Kumar,
District Magistrate,
Sonbhadra,
Uttar Pradesh
INDIA
Email: dmson@nic.in
11. Shri Shiv Shankar Yadav
Superintendent of Police
District Magistrate, Sonbhadra,
Uttar Pradesh
INDIA
Email: spsbr-up@nic.in
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
