HC questions delay in investigation into death of a 22-year-old because of alleged police brutality

The Bombay high court on Friday questioned the inordinate delay in the investigation into the death of a 22-year-old, who according to police was lynched by a mob

The Bombay high court on Friday questioned the inordinate delay in the investigation into the death of a 22-year-old, who according to police was lynched by a mob when he went to commit robbery.

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However, the family members of the deceased Raju Velu Devendra have alleged that he was beaten to death by the police.

The division bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice Anuja Prabhudessai questioned as to why the investigation remained pending so long when it commenced on March 31, a day after the incident. The judges also questioned as to why the culprits were not identified when police claimed to have collected the CCTV footage of the lynching.

The bench has now sought a report disclosing the status of the investigation into the death of Devendra.

Human rights activist, advocate Firdous Irani has brought two lockdown deaths, including that of Devendra, to the notice of the court through his public interest litigation highlighting police brutality during enforcement of the lockdown imposed for containing the spread of Covid-19.

Irani has pointed out that he too was a victim of police brutality, as he along with his family were beaten up by a few policemen and civic officials on April 16, 2020, for no apparent reason. He submitted that several individuals in Mumbai have faced police high-handedness during the ensuing lockdown. He also pointed out a report of a human rights organisation disclosing that at least 15 persons have died across the country due to police brutality during the lockdown, and two of them are from Mumbai.

One of them, according to the report, is Devendra, whose kin allege that on March 30, 2020, when they were headed to visit a relative, a police team chased them and caught the deceased. The policemen, according to the report, informed the relatives that they were taking Devendra to Juhu police station. In the morning, police informed the family that Raju was lying at Nehru Nagar Chowk and when they took him to a hospital, he was declared dead.

While the family alleged that he died due police brutalities, police maintain that 22-year-old Raju was badly beaten by locals when went to commit robbery and succumbed to the injuries, and a case has been registered against eight persons.

The second case pertained to the death of a porter, Sagir Jamal Khan, who was allegedly caught by police on April 18, when he was driving a handcart to deliver a refrigerator in Null Bazaar locality. Policemen hit him on head, hand and back. Later in the day, Khan suddenly collapsed while having dinner, and was declared dead by the hospital.

His post-mortem report has, however, revealed that he died due to enlargement of the heart.