The most gruesome torture killing was that of Kamalakar in Gulbarga in 1992. The usual cover-up could not conceal the gory death and the heads of a number of policemen including two senior officers rolled as a result. The then home minister luckily survived.

A senior police officer was honest enough to comment: ``Once they wear khakhi they become a law unto themselves because they enjoy unfettered powers to `investigate' anything and everything. In the disguise of investigation they could even loot people's houses''.

Said another officer: ``Policemen, particularly from the level down of sub-inspector, have scant respect for the police manual. The concept of human rights is alien to them. They have their own manual''.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) which has achieved modest success in checking rising custodial deaths has apparently become an irritant for the police. None other than the Minister of State for Home Roshan Baig had expressed serious reservations over the instructions and guidelines framed by the commission in dealing with persons brought to police stations. He had directed the State police chief to continue interaction with the NHRC and had preliminary discussions with the director general of NHRC, D R Karthikeyan, on the issue of reconsideration of the NHRC norms.

It is mandatory on part of the SP to report any custodial death to the NHRC within 24 hours of its occurrence. Interestingly, it is not the circulars of the home department but NHRC directions which have kept the police in check upto some extent.

NHRC norms are often violated because political bosses condone such violations as in the Wadi case where a drunken person was brought to the police station at 11 pm. By 3 am he was dead. A person accused of drinking should first be taken for medical examination which is mandatory. This was not done in Wadi.

The State Government's policy of holding the sub-inspector concerned responsible for custodial deaths appears to be an eye-wash. For one thing, no SI has so far been held responsible for any lock-up death. For another, why only the SI? If he is technically accountable, are not those above him equally accountable? Above all, isn't the Minister in charge of Home accountable? The government has made a standing order under which every custodial death case shall be investigated by the Corps of Detectives (CoD). But CoD, as almost every one in the police department acknowledges, has lost its credibility. To refer a case to the CoD is equal to burning it for good.

The CoD became a laughing stock in the Kamalakar case in which most of the chargesheeted police officers were discharged by the court on the technical ground that the CoD had not taken the Government's permission for prosecuting the officers.

The police headquarters issue circulars from time to time stipulating that persons should not be locked up in police stations during night and that those arrested should be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours. But this is seldom done. The police do not record most arrests for days together.

Significantly, no State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has been set up in Karnataka despite several reminders to the State Government from the NHRC. No wonder that erring policemen and ministers feel free to do as they please.