For 'torture to extract a confession', 3 cops face arrest

Three Bhagalpur police officers allegedly poured petrol through the rectum of a youth last September, part of pressure tactics to involve him in a murder case. The Bhagalpur subdivisional magistrate's court has issued arrest warrants against them.

The youth told the court that he was subjected to the torture because he had refused to become a witness in the murder case. Before that, he told the court, the officers had extorted money out of him. And by the time he was narrating his story in court, he was an accused in the murder case.

The court on March 12 ordered the district police to register a case and arrest the three officers. That has not happened yet. TheBihar police spokesperson said on Wednesday that they would issue fresh instructions to the CID (whose DIG has been supervising the case since torture was alleged) and the district police to execute the court order. The DIG said he hasn't got the court order yet; Bhagalpur zone's IGP said he doesn't know about the case.

Of the three officers, the one in whose police station the alleged torture took place denied the charge. Kumod Kumar, Kotwali police station-in-charge, said the arrest warrants were issued on the basis of a "motivated" medical report. He said he and the other two have moved the district and sessions court in appeal.

His narrative

Rustum, 21, also known as Minu Mian, is a property dealer in Kotwali. Each of the three accused officers is in charge of a police station — Sanjay Biswas at Tatarpur and Santosh Sharma at Adampur, besides Kumod Kumar at Kotwali. Rustum made his allegations to the court on September 9.

He said a middleman called him on August 18 to say the officers wanted to meet them. The next day, Rustum went to Kotwali police station where, he said, he met Kumar and Biswas. He alleged Biswas told him to pay Rs 1 lakh as nazrana (bribe) since he was in the property business. He claimed he gave Kumod Kumar Rs 50,000 that very evening, and alleged Biswas warned him with death unless he paid the rest.

... contd.

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