Home acts, HQ sits on cop report

PATNA: The poor showing of NDA in the just-concluded Assembly bypoll despite chief minister Nitish Kumar���s all-work-no-play policy has puzzled political pundits. Here���s one instance of everything not being hunky-dory in `sushasan��� or good governance the Nitish government claims it provides to the state.
While the home (prisons) department has recommended action against the Bettiah jail superintendent for hiding an incident of inhuman torture of prisoners from higher-ups, the state police HQ has not initiated any action against the cops who tortured the prisoners.
The home (prisons) department has initiated action on the basis of the report of Champaran DIG Paresh Saxena who was ordered to probe the matter by the state police HQ following a directive from the NHRC. Ironically, however, the same police HQ has sought a second opinion of Muzaffarpur IG R S Bhatti on the probe report.
The matter pertained to alleged thrashing of Bettiah jail inmates by a local police team led by West Champaran SP K S Anupam. A few bones were broken as screams of the victims rent the air throughout from late May 29 evening to the wee hours of May 30 this year. The probe found the cops, who suspected the prisoners��� involvement in a kidnapping incident, were in such a nasty mood that they called in a doctor to take blood samples of one of the prisoners for conducting an alcohol test. This despite the fact that there���s no facility to do alcohol test in the entire district.
The probe report is based on the statements given by eyewitnesses, including the Bettiah jail superintendent, jail doctor, the then sadar SDO of Bettiah, a police official, jail employees and the doctor called by the SP to collect the blood sample of Rambhu Ram.
Jail superintendent Chandrashekhar Mishra told the DIG the policemen started thrashing the inmates around
9.20 pm and the intensity of torture increased after SP Anupam reached the jail around 11 pm. The then SDO Rajeev Verma, in his statement, said he went to the jail on a telephonic instruction of West Champaran DM Dilip Kumar.
The probe found the SP guilty of resorting to illegal torture of prisoners. It also described the raid on the DM���s oral order as violation of Jail Manual. Asked about the action taken in the torture case, ADG (HQ) Neelmani said appropriate action would be taken on the basis of the Muzaffarpur IG���s comments on the DIG���s report.
Home (prisons) department, which too received a copy of DIG report, however, does not doubt the credentials of the DIG. ���We have recommended for departmental proceedings against the jail superintendent for keeping us in dark about the incident,��� a senior department official said.