VISAKHAPATNAM: The Human Rights Forum (HRF) has demanded an independent investigation into the custodial death of Betha Rambabu (42), a self-employed electrician, in Nellimarla police station of Vizianagaram reportedly on February 11.HRF leaders K Sudha and VS Krishna, in a statement issued here on Monday, said the probe must be conducted by an independent agency.
The District Collector has ordered a magisterial inquiry by the Vizianagaram Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO). As per Section 176 (1A) through a significant amendment to the CrPC in 2005, all custodial deaths should be probed by a judicial magistrate or metropolitan magistrate rather than an executive magistrate.
The HRF leaders said the Vizianagaram RDO is not empowered to conduct inquiry into the custodial death case and any such probe has no legal sanctity. Earlier, HRF representatives met the Vizianagaram Collector and urged him to uphold Section 176 (1A) and ensure a probe by a judicial magistrate into the Nellimarla case.
On Monday, a three-member HRF team visited Vizianagaram and Nellimarla. They spoke to the family members of the deceased. They also visited the Nellimarla police station.The police version is that Rambabu was arrested for stealing battery inverters from the office premises of the Employment Guarantee Scheme in Nellimarla. He was kept in the record room at the police station where he bolted himself inside sometime around dawn the next day.
At about 9 am, the police said they broke in and found him hanging in a rope he had managed to get inside the police station. Though he was rushed to hospital, he was declared brought dead. The HRF leaders alleged inconsistencies and contradictions in the police version. These doubts can be clarified only if there is an investigation by an agency that is not part of the district police apparatus. Such an investigation must pinpoint blame and prosecute police personnel accordingly. The family of Rambabu has to be compensated substantively, they said.
The fact-finding team noticed that CCTV cameras were not installed at the Nellimarla police station. Surprisingly, no police station in the district has CCTVs, they said. This is in violation of the judgement of the Supreme Court which directed the Centre, States and UTs to install CCTVs with night vision cameras and audio recording in every police station. The HRF demanded that the State government install CCTV cameras in all police stations.