Why no Murder charge for Custodial Death: High Court

On Monday, the High Court of Gujarat sought an explanation from Vadodara Police for not invoking the murder charge against Fatehgunj cops for the custodial death of Shaikh Babu Nisar, 65. The Court also asked why the 6 policemen involved have been booked only for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

According to Lawyer Imtiyaz Kureshi, who represents Nisar’s son in the habeas corpus petition, the bench of Justice Sonia Gokani and Justice N V Anjaria sought a report on Tuesday. 

The Judges said that it appeared a clear case of murder & that the body had been disposed of according to the FIR. What is not clear is the intention of the accused.

Earlier this month, Vadodara Police had booked the 6 cops, including the Ex-Police Inspector of Fatehgunj, for the custodial death of Nisar, who hailed from Telangana. The action occurred after Nisar’s son approached the HC seeking directions to trace his father, who had disappeared after he was taken to the Fatehgunj police station on Dec 10, 2019. 

Vadodara Police registered an FIR against the cops immediately after the High Court asked the investigator to furnish CCTV footage from the police station. The Court had also wanted the earlier inquiry reports on the mysterious disappearance of Nisar. Before conceding that Nisar had died at the police station & that his body had been disposed of, Vadodara Police had told the Court that he had criminal antecedents. Vadodara Police had also told the court he might have been wanted by cops of several states & he could be detained in some prison. The High Court had directed police to inquire with jail authorities too. But a day before the High Court hearing in which Vadodara Police was supposed to present the CCTV footage, an FIR was registered against the 6 policemen.

The FIR was supported by witness statements that the policemen had tied Nisar to a chair & had tortured him to extract a confession. The person on whose theft complaint Nisar was taken in by the cops also stated that he had seen Nisar at the police station.

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