Friday, 20 June 2008

Police torture- Cops and Criminals play Tom and Jerry

By U Sudhakar Reddy
Antics of some regular suspects who are brought to police stations for interrogation are frustrating cops to no end.
Though it is common for suspects to be nervous, there has been a role reversal in these cases. It is the cops who are nervous.
For many suspects inflict injuries on themselves soon after they reach the police stations and then file complaints with human rights commissions and courts alleging torture.
One Akbar Mohammed of Bhavaninagar, arrested in connection with assaults, shocked cops by reportedly breaking his head with a glass as soon as he reached the station. Later, he filed cases accusing the police of harassing him.
A habitual chain snatcher, Hasan Barak Ba of Chandrayanagutta, enacts a suicide drama whenever he is arrested. Then he files complaints. Caught in the legal muddle, cops forgot all about recovering the stolen ornaments.
With no other go, police has finally decided to videograph interrogations of top suspects to prove that they are not using any thirddegree methods.
The city police commissioner, Mr B. Prasada Rao, has supplied digital video cameras and still cameras to all police stations and Task Force and Central Crime Station offices in the city to score one over the wily criminals.
Nowadays, cops switch on the video cameras immediately after the troublesome suspects are brought to the station. If they try to hurt themselves, the cops have visual evidence to present to the courts.
This is not to say that third-degree methods are not used by the police.
The cops in the state have perfected the roller treatment (using pestle or wooden log), rocket ekkinchadam (hoisting a person with ropes) and beating on the legs and hands.
In roller treatment the suspect is held down on the floor and a wooden log or pestle (musal) is laid across the legs.
Two cops sit on each side and roll it backwards and forwards crushing the muscles.
After human rights activists raised hell over custodial torture, cops started beating up suspects on the palms of the hand and soles of the feet with a ‘whip’ made of vehicle tyres. The advantage here is the there would be no bruises to show.
And there is no guarantee that the video cameras will put an end to it. After all, you can switch them off and take up the whip.

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