Dear Friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information from our partner organization MASUM in West Bengal regarding the police torture of an enclave dweller and failure to follow due process.
CASE NARRATIVE:
Mr. Krishna Roy, originally a resident of the Indian enclaves in Bangladesh, came to India with his family. It was after the Land Boundary Agreement between India and Bangladesh. He settled in the Haldibari Enclave Settlement Camp situated in the Cooch Behar District.
Mr. Krishna Roy had some personal issues with his two brothers, residents of the same camp. On 19th July 2017, at 11 p.m., he sat down with his brothers to try to settle controversial issues. They started quarrelling with each other. The other residents tried to pacify them to no avail. One of the residents notified the Haldibari Police Station about the situation. After some time, six Police Officers from the Haldibari Police Station arrived at the camp in a gypsy car. They took Mr. Roy and his brother Mr. Sanatan Roy to the Police Station.
A few hours after arriving at the Police Station, around 2 a.m., the Police released Sanatan but not Krishna Roy despite several requests. It had been alleged that Mr. Ajay Roy, Mr. Rupam Dey and Mr. Ujjal Baksi of the Haldibari Police Station started physically torturing Krishna Roy. They disrobed and tortured him for a span of approximately 30 minutes. After this, the Police lodged a complaint against him vide G.R Number- 320/17 under section 353/34 of the Indian Penal Code. However, they failed to prepare an arrest warrant as required by Section 41- B of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (inserted through Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act, 2008)
On the next day, 20th July 2017, Mr. Roy was produced before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate-Mekhliganj’s Court at 12 p.m. He was released on bail at 3.00 pm, on the same day.
Due to the overwhelming physical torture and assault by the police, Mr. Roy experienced severe pain. He was admitted to the Haldibari Rural Hospital on 20th July 2017. He was under treatment for 7 days and was discharged on 27th July 2017 according to the Discharge Report.
On 24th August 2017, the victim’s wife lodged a written complaint, by post, with the Inspector-in-Charge of the Haldibari Police Station and the Superintendent of Police of Cooch Behar. There had been gross Neglect of Duty on the part of Police Officials. Their inaction towards this investigation means that the victim’s family has not yet received information as to the measures taken by the Police to settle this case.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
This case is a deplorable reflection of the abuse of power and dereliction of duty by police officials. It comes at a cost to innocent people. Firstly, Police failed to prepare an arrest warrant. This is an essential requisite of Section 41 B of The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973(CrPC) that must be followed by Police personnel. They have failed to conduct a medical examination of the arrested person within 48 hours of arrest. This is provided for in the guidelines of the landmark case of D.K. Basu Vs. State of West Bengal (1997) 1 SCC 416 as well as the provisions of Section 54 of CrPC. Police officials in this case must be prosecuted under Section 166 of the Indian Penal Code for disobeying the directions of the Law, causing injury to a person. They should be held liable under penalties provided under Section 29 of the Indian Police Act for neglect of their duties.
Police personnel are not only legally answerable for their nonchalant attitude and negligence but are guilty of torture and physical assault of the arrested person. This goes beyond the proportions and directions as authorized under the process of law. The accused Police Officials must be prosecuted under Sections 351, 355, 338 and 337 of the Indian Penal Code for causing physical assault dishonoring a person and causing grievous hurt. It must be requested that the written complaint be converted into a F.I.R followed by an immediate investigation, as some of the charges against the officials are cognizable offences. The Police perpetrators by their acts of torture upon the victim have contravened Articles 2, 5, 7 and 8 of the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials. Accordingly, they are bound to uphold human dignity and human rights of all persons. They have breached Article 7 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and have also defied the fundamental right to life and liberty as provided under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the relevant authorities asking them to order an enquiry into the behavior of the errant police officials and to initiate criminal proceedings against them for the torture and for failing to follow the due process of law. The victim must be compensated for the torture and for injuries caused due to the torture.
The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special rapporteur on Torture calling for their intervention in this matter.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ___________,
INDIA: Custodial torture of an enclave dweller in West Bengal by police and failure to follow due process of law
Name of victim: Mr. Krishna Roy
Names of alleged perpetrators: Mr. Ajay Roy, Mr. Rupam Dey and Mr. Ujjal Baksi – Police personnel from the Haldibari Police Sation.
Date of incident: 19th July 2017
Place of incident: Haldibari Police Station
I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the custodial torture of Mr. Krishna Roy at the Haldibari Police Station. Injuries he suffered are due to the irresponsible and criminal actions of police officials. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Krishna Roy, originally a resident of Indian enclaves in Bangladesh came to India with his family. This was after the Land Boundary Agreement between India and Bangladesh. He was staying at the Haldibari Enclave Settlement Camp in the district of Cooch Behar.
Mr. Krishna Roy had some personal issues with his two brothers, residents of the same camp. On 19th July 2017, at 11 p.m., he sat down with his brothers to settle disputed matters. They started quarrelling with each other. Other residents tried to pacify them to no avail. Meanwhile, one of the residents telephoned the Haldibari Police Station to notify them about the situation. After some time, six Policemen from the Haldibari Police Station arrived at the camp in a gypsy car. They took Mr. Roy and his brother Mr. Sanatan Roy to the Police Station.
A few hours after arriving at the Police Station, around 2 a.m., the Police released Sanatan but not Krishna Roy, despite several requests. It had been alleged that Mr. Ajay Roy, Mr. Rupam Dey and Mr. Ujjal Baksi of the Haldibari Police Station started physically torturing Krishna Roy. They disrobed and tortured him for a span of approximately 30 minutes. After this, the Police lodged a complaint against him vide G.R Number- 320/17 under section 353/34 of the Indian Penal Code. However, they failed to prepare an arrest warrant as required by Section 41- B of the Code of Criminal Procedure (inserted through Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act, 2008)
On the next day, 20th July 2017, Mr. Roy was produced before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate-Mekhliganj’s Court at 12 p.m. He was released on bail at 3.00 pm, on the same day.
Due to the overwhelming physical torture and assault by the police, Mr. Roy suffered severe pain. He was admitted to the Haldibari Rural Hospital on 20th July 2017. He was under treatment for 7 days and discharged on 27th July 2017 according to the discharge report.
On 24th August 2017, the victim’s wife lodged a written complaint, by post, to the Inspector-in- Charge of the Haldibari Police Station and the Superintendent of Police, Cooch Behar. There had been gross neglect of duty by Police. Their inaction in this investigation means that the victim’s family has not yet received any information as to measures taken by Police to resolve the case.
This case is a deplorable reflection of the abuse of power by and dereliction of duty by police officials. It is at the cost of innocent people and these police officers are not only legally answerable for their nonchalant attitude and negligence but are also guilty of torture and physical assault of the arrested person. The police officials must be prosecuted for their failure to follow due process, for torturing and causing injury to a person and for neglecting their duties. The written complaint by the wife of the victim must be treated as a FIR and must be punished after due investigation and enquiries. The victim must be compensated for the injuries suffered in custody.
Yours Sincerely,
……………….
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Justice H.L.Dattu, Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission
Manav Adhikar Bhawan
Block-C, G.P.O. Complex, INA
New Delhi-110023
Email: cr.nhrc@nic.in
2. Justice Girish Chandra Gupta
West Bengal State Human Rights Commission
Purta Bhavan, 2nd Floor,
Block-Df, Sector – I, Salt Lake City,
Kolkata, West Bengal 700091
Tele (O) +91 (033) 2337-7259
Fax: 2337-9633
Email: hrcwb2013@gmail.com
3. Mamta Banerjee
Chief Minister West Bengal
NABANNA (14th Floor)325, Sarat Chatterjee Road, 

Shibpur, Howrah-711102

Telephone :(033)2214-5555, 2214-3101
Fax :(033) 2214-3528
E-mail: cm@wb.gov.in
4. Dr. Ish Kumar
Additional Director General of Police
National Crime Records Bureau
Gurgaon – Delhi Expy, Mandi, Mahipalpur, New Delhi, Delhi 110037
Tel – 011-26104648
E-mail id – director@ncrb.nic.in
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Program
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
