Chhattisgarh top cop in the dock

Hyderabad: Chhattisgarh cadre IPS officer inspector general of police Kalluri Shivaram Prasad has proceeded on long leave following a probe by the National Human Rights Commission of police excesses in the region and the harassment of human rights activists. P. Sunderraj has been posted as DIG at Jagdalpur, the divisional headquarters of Bastar region.

When contacted, Mr Shivaram, who is of Hyderabadi origin, confirmed that he was on leave. He denied the allegations made against him but refused to comment further.

Human rights activists have alleged that policemen with the support of Mr Shivaram had hounded and attacked researcher Bela Bhatia who was researching alleged human rights abuses by security forces in the Maoist region. Mr Shivaram failed to appear before the NHRC in November 2016, stating that he had a heart problem and had undergone surgery in Visakhapatnam. This time, too, he has gone on medical leave stating kidney issues.

Activists were targeted: Group
Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS), a human rights group, said in a statement, 'The NHRC had summoned (state) officials to answer for the apathy of the state government while responding to the violations of human rights and vendetta against human rights defenders perpetrated by the police and police-sponsored vigilante groups encouraged and supported by the police under Mr Kalluri.'

Advocate Shalini Gera of WSS said, “In the months since our initial complaint and the NHRC investigation, more than a dozen complaints and submissions were placed before the NHRC by various human rights groups, highlighting the deteriorating situation of human rights and the increasing vulnerability of human rights defenders in Bastar. Defying strictures by the Supreme Court and the NHRC, Mr Kalluri publicly announced the launch of 'Mission 2017', an all-out vendetta against all those who were calling the state to account.

Adivasi leaders, human rights activists, lawyers, academics, fact-finding teams and journalists were targeted, hounded and threatened by the police and police-sponsored vigilante groups."

The NHRC recently found prima facie evidence of mass rapes of Adivasi women by police personnel, and other excesses, in the region.

On January 7, 2017 the NHRC revealed that it found that 16 women were prima facie victims of rape, sexual and physical assault by State police personnel in Chhattisgarh. Three FIRs were booked in 2016 in which 34 victims were named.

NHRC teams recorded statements and also collected 164 CrPC statements of 15 victims and found that “grave allegations of rape and sexual assault by security personnel were reiterated before the teams”. NHRC is yet to record statements of 20 victims. Though the victims are tribals, the SC/ST Act has not been invoked.