MCOCA court refers ‘serious’ custodial torture case to principal judge

The accused alleged that police personnel assaulted him on various parts of his body, including his genitalia, and inserted an object into his anal region

MUMBAI: A special MCOCA court has referred an alleged custodial torture case to the principal judge of the sessions court for appropriate action after a court-ordered medical examination found multiple injuries, including a burn injury to the genital region of an accused arrested by the Sakinaka police.

MCOCA court refers ‘serious’ custodial torture case to principal judge

The accused, Ali Husain Ali Hasan Khan alias Kaddu, was booked by Sakinaka police in a violent robbery case in which the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) had been invoked. On Thursday, when he was produced for remand, he told the court that the police had tortured him for about three days.

During an interaction with special judge VD Kedar in his chambers, Khan alleged that police personnel assaulted him on various parts of his body, including his genitalia, and inserted an object into his anal region. He also alleged that he was assaulted on other parts of his body and that police threatened to implicate his family in false cases to force a confession.

Describing the allegations as “serious in nature”, the judge ordered an immediate medical examination at Sir JJ Hospital following applications by Khan’s advocate, Wahab Khan, seeking preservation of medical records and CCTV footage.

The court also directed the investigating officer to preserve CCTV footage from the Sakinaka police station lock-up, corridors, entry and exit points to interrogation rooms and transport routes, besides digital records and logs, station and lock-up registers, arrest, remand and interrogation records, and vehicle and escort details, wherever available and legally applicable.

Until the examination was completed and the report received, Khan was not to be handed back to “the custody of the investigating officer or to the custody of any police officer connected with the investigation”, so that he remained free from “any further influence, intimidation or interference”. He was subsequently produced before the court with the medical papers and remanded to judicial custody till October 12.

The medical examination recorded multiple injuries, including swelling at the base of both thumbs and over the thumbs and index fingers of both hands, the left shoulder and both feet. It also noted greenish discolouration around the left heel, as well as a 6x7 cm burn injury to the scrotum.

Doctors also noted redness, tenderness and skin lesions in the genital region. An ultrasound of the abdomen and thorax showed no significant trauma-related abnormality, while a CT scan of the brain showed no significant abnormality or fracture. Further X-rays and a urology assessment were advised, but the order does not record their results.

Although the court had specifically directed examination of the anal region, the medical findings reproduced in the order do not record an injury there.

The court said that, under the criminal manual’s procedure concerning allegations of trauma in custody, it was sending the principal judge a detailed report with the roznamas from Thursday and Saturday, its orders and the medical reports, “for information and for such action as may be considered appropriate”.

The court has expressly stopped short of deciding who caused the injuries or how they were sustained. “At this stage, however, this court does not record any findings as to the person responsible for causing the above-stated injuries or the precise circumstances in which the injuries were caused,” the judge said, adding that the matter required appropriate investigation in accordance with the law.

Khan was arrested by Sakinaka police in a case involving alleged violent robbery, house-trespass, causing hurt, criminal intimidation and conspiracy. Police have also invoked the MCOCA, alleging his involvement in organised crime and an organised crime syndicate.