Hyderabad: The Sultan Bazaar police has come under fire for covering the face of a woman accused with a black polythene bag which did not have any scope for ventilation.
The woman, accused of kidnapping a baby from the Koti Maternity Hospital, was being taken for a medical check-up from the station after her arrest. Police used the black bag instead of a cloth to cover her face to protect her identity.
When this newspaper asked Sultan Bazaar station house officer P. Shiva Shankar Rao about the incident, he replied, “Following Supreme Court guidelines, the accused was kept away from the media. While she was being taken for a medical check-up , the team was surrounded by 20-30 photographers who trying to get her picture.”
He said the distance from the police station to the vehicle was about 10 metres. The police used the only available resource, the polythene bag, to cover her face. It was removed when she boarded the vehicle.
DCP, East, P. Ramesh pulled up the station house officer and the assistant commissioner of police for negligence. In a post on his Twitter handle, Mr Ramesh said, “My apologies! @shosulthanbazar @acpsultanbazar, this is simply not acceptable. She could have choked due to suffocation. Never to be repeated, please (sic). ”
“The police is supposed to be well-equipped. During an encounter, they carry arms and material to conceal their identity. While nabbing the accused, they must be ready with material to protect the facial identification. It is a case of negligence of the police officials,” said Mr K. Ananthnag, Telangana state chairman for the Human Rights Council of India.
ACP, Sultan Bazaar, Dr M. Chetana has ordered a probe to check why a piece of cloth or any other resource was not used to conceal the accused’s face.
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