Assam DGP office asks all police stations to give record of custodial deaths

In February, this year, a two-judge bench of Guwahati High Court Chief Justice and Justice Soumitra Saikia heard the PIL filed by the Supreme Court lawyer Arif Jwadder, which stated that since May 2021, 80 such incidents have taken place in the state and 28 people have died and 48 were injured.

Guwahati: In a notice sent from the Director-General of Police Office to all the police stations seeks records of custodial deaths in various police stations across the state. The notice was served on the directions of the Guwahati High Court which has sought details from the Director-General of Assam Police, National Human Rights Commission, and Assam State Human Rights Commission while hearing a PIL regarding the recent complaint of fake encounters by the state police.

In February, this year a two-judge bench of Guwahati High Court Chief Justice and Justice Soumitra Saikia heard the PIL filed by the Supreme Court lawyer Arif Jwadder, which stated that since May 2021, 80 such incidents have taken place in the state and 28 people have died and 48 were injured.

Jwadder had sought directions from the High Court for the registration of an FIR in fake encounter cases under the supervision of the court by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a Special Investigation Team (SIT), or a police team from another state and proper verification by a sitting high court judge. He also sought financial compensation for the victim's families of the encounter.

The state government, Assam Police, Law and Justice Department, NHRC, and Assam Human Rights Commission were named as respondents in the petition.