Police illegally detain, torture 2 drivers:Karnataka State Human Rights Commission

Bengaluru: Two drivers attached to a reputed school at Kundanahalli Gate in Turbarahalli were allegedly illegally detained and tortured by the police, who had picked them up for allegedly selling ganja. A complainant, however, refuted the police claims and said that the police implicated the two in a wrong case and asked for a bribe of Rs 2 lakh to release them.   

A complaint of illegal detention and custodial torture by Begur police was filed before the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission on August 18, by complainant Anrull Mandal. The two detained hail from West Bengal. 

Anrull (30) stated in his complaint that his brother Sariful (31) and neighbour Feroz (32) were picked up by the Begur police around 10 pm on August 9. “While having dinner, Sariful and Feroz, working as bus drivers at a school in Kundanahalli Gate, were taken by some people in civil dress. They came in an Innova car and did not inform us why the two were being detained and why they were being taken away.”

He stated, “We searched for the two all around Kundanahalli Gate. We approached the Marthalli, Varthur, HAL and Prapana Agrahara police stations, and showed the photos to police officials and asked them if they had taken the two. But there was no positive response. Three days after the incident, on August 12, around 10 pm, Izman, who stays in the same area, informed Iqbal that Sariful and Feroz have been taken by Begur police station officials and were in custody.”

On August 13, Anrull, social activist Kaleemullah and Iqbal went to the Begur police station. Anrull stated, “We saw Sariful and Feroz badly beaten up and injured. We were informed by police officials that Sariful and Feroz were taken into custody in a ganja case and that we have to pay Rs 2 lakh for their release. I requested the police to release them and said I had no money to pay. But they refused to listen.”

He said that on the same night, he received a call from an unknown person, who spoke in Bengali and said that if he paid Rs 1 lakh the two would be released. “When I refused to pay any money and begged him to release them, the anonymous caller started negotiating. He came down to Rs 80,000,” he said.

Anrull told Deccan Chronicle that when he visited the Parappana Agrahara prison on Monday, his brother Sariful said that the police had brutally beaten him up.

An official from the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission (KSHRC) told Deccan Chronicle that the complaint is under investigation and the IGP attacked to the commission is looking into it. Deccan Chronicle tried to contact higher officials, but there was no response.