Indian Express: Chandigarh:
Thursday, June 20, 2013.
Three years
after a Gurgaon resident died in judicial custody under mysterious
circumstances, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked Haryana Police to
explain why the investigation of the case should not be handed over to the CBI.
Forty-year-old Krishan Kumar was found dead in
judicial custody a day after he was sent to jail by a Gurgaon court on January
11, 2010. Jail officials claimed he died of a heart attack but his family
alleged foul play and approached the Deputy Commissioner. A magisterial probe
was ordered after Kumar’s widow Parvesh Kataria alleged that he was eliminated
because his brother was all set to uncover a bogus-vote racket involving
politicians in 2008.
The probe
questioned the police’s claims and recommended an independent probe into the
death of Kumar. The magistrate, in a 16-page report, said “the matter needs
thorough investigation from some independent/ impartial agency as there seems
to be indulgence of senior political bosses, superior police officers, jail
authorities, doctors and others”.
But no action
was taken even two years after the magistrate submitted his report. Kataria
then petitioned the High Court, demanding a CBI probe. She claimed her husband
was framed by politicians and arrested in a fake case in 2008. “The false case
dragged on for two years after which Krishan Kumar was picked up by Haryana
Police on the ground that he had jumped bail,” advocate Ravi Kamal Gupta,
counsel for Kataria, said.
A fortnight
ago, the widow, through her lawyer, produced photographs of Kumar’s body she
obtained these from the police under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The
photographs apparently show injury marks on the body. The High Court has asked
Haryana Police to respond and explain why the probe should not be handed over
to the CBI.
Incidentally,
the earlier probe by the magistrate had noted that the post-mortem examination
of the body was not conducted for two days and was done only after he had
directed constitution of a medical board. The probe report mentioned that one
of the doctors said “the possibility of death due to injuries cannot be ruled
out”.
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