KOCHI: Peeved at increasing reports of alleged police torture from different quarters of the state, chairman of the State Police Complaints Authority (SPCA) on Friday urged the state government to rename the ‘Janamaithri police station’ (People-friendly police station) community policing programme to just ‘police station’.
SPCA Chairman Justice K Narayana Kurup made the comments in the wake of three alleged tortures reported in Kochi in a single week. Kurup expressed his annoyance and anger at the incidents after visiting the Kalamassery police station to take the statement of 19-year-old Sooraj, who was allegedly tortured in custody by Palarivattom police earlier this week. “The name leaves a positive feeling about police stations. However, the cases of police torture reported from different part of the city clearly show that Janamaithri police stations have not been able to maintain the spirit of the name,” said Kurup, adding, “They should drop ‘Janamaithri’ (people-friendly) from their names and should simply be called police stations.”
The SPCA chairman, who took the statement of the Dalit youngster for over an hour, also lashed out police investigations into the custodial torture of the youth, saying it could not be justified at any cost.
“We cannot accept the police investigations into the complaint made against them. The SPCA was constituted for investigating such complaints against the police. If they investigate the complaints filed against themelves, the SPCA would not be needed,” said Kurup.
He said it was the duty of the Police Chief to suspend the three policemen who allegedly tortured the Dalit youth, when he sought their help in stopping a fight between his father and brother.
“The police chief is duty-bound to suspend the three accused policemen within 24 hours,” he said, adding that the SPCA would file a recommendation for suspending the policemen within a few days.