NEW DELHI, October 30:A representative of the Andhra Pradesh State Minorities Commission was denied access to a prison last week after a fact-finding committee associated with the commission reported details of illegal detention and alleged torture of at least 20 Muslims picked up over the twin blasts which killed 43 people in Hyderabad.

While a forensics expert, sent by the minority panel, confirmed instances of torture and third-degree methods, lead representative of the AP State Minorities Commission, Advocate Commissioner Ravi Chander, was refused permission on Saturday to meet the detainees at Charlapally Prison to complete his report.

Minority commission is a statutory body, and questions are now being raised about the refusal by the state authorities.

Says Ravichander: “The state minorities commission has the powers of a civil court and I had the necessary permissions to enter. I even took fresh permissions the second time I went, but I was told to go talk to a minister this time around.”

The three-member committee, which met the detainees over the last month under the aegis of the minority panel, has demanded a judicial probe into how suspects were picked up and in many cases were interrogated at “unknown locations” and subjected to “severe beatings and even electric shocks”.

In its report, accessed by The Indian Express, the committee says it “sees communal bias in the pattern of detentions/arrests made after the twin bomb blasts. There is sufficient evidence to believe that Muslim young men were picked up at random because they belonged to a particular religion.”

The report adds: “Boys were picked up and not permitted to inform at least one family member of their arrest (the police did not notify the families of the detainees either). They weren’t even produced in a court within 24 hours. On an average, the delay was for five days and there were signs of physical torture evident to the naked eye for days after.”

Endorsing the committee’s findings, Chander said: “We were able to substantiate and verify most of what the boys and their families told us.” Chander added that an official forensics expert, who confirmed instances of torture, accompanied the committee —civil society activists Nirmala Gopalakrishnan, K Anuradha and Mohammed Afzal — in its fact-finding mission.

“The expert, Dr Mahender Reddy, confirmed after examining signs of torture on the boys that they were subjected to third-degree methods, despite no evidence or due process of law,” said Chander.

When contacted, Hyderabad Police Commissioner Balwinder Singh said he is yet to see a copy of this report. “We have tried our best to ensure that the case is investigated within the framework of the law and we have not indiscriminately arrested anybody. Everyone found not involved —- even if our suspicions remain though we had no evidence admissible in a court of law — we have let them off,” said Singh.

State Minorities Commission Chairman Yousuf Qureshi said: “The report is extremely disturbing. I have proposed a 24 hour help-line for relatives in cases of people being whisked away, so they can get a hearing immediately.”

What the report says

There were allegations of beating on soles of feet by leather or rubber objects

• There are noticeable small scars of 1-cm diameter noted on external ears

• There are noticeable 1-mm to 2-mm scars noted around nipples indicative of electricity or needle entry

• Hafez Mohammed Bilal Muftahee, 26, was picked up as police wanted to question him about one Rizwan Ghazi whom he had taught the Koran, a year ago. He was interrogated at an unknown location, “severely kicked, beaten, hit with sticks on the sole of his feet.” He was later hospitalised, and medical records confirm that he was beaten up.

• Abdul Kareem, 24, told the committee that he had been arrested on August 30 and produced before a magistrate eight days later. “He said that during interrogations he was beaten severely...He was given electric shocks even in his private parts and that a small electric shaving machine like device was used, which they kept charging. His hands were tied behind his back and he was hung from his hands upside down. Kicked by boots on his face also. Four or five days of torture and ten days in custody. When he would drift into sleep, he would be awakened by water being thrown on his face. The police threatened to make his mother and sister naked, which they said would make him tell the truth. They said things against his religion; asked him why they have so many children and wives, told him that they were all fundamentalists”.

• Ibrahim Ali Junaid, 25, final-year medical student, BUMS (Unani Medicine), said he was picked up on September 3 and produced before a magistrate five days later. He was taken to an undisclosed location, where he was interrogated. “At night they took off all his clothes, tied his feet together and with a belt beat him on the sole of his feet and other parts of his body. During interrogation they asked him about the Mecca Masjid and Gokul Chat bomb blasts. Legs were stretched sideways and then beaten. Electric shocks were administered on his penis, ears, waist and ankles,” says the report.

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