Allahabad HC slams CBI for shoddy probe in custodial death

The Allahabad High Court has slammed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for its failure to properly investigate the alleged custodial death of a 24-year-old man from Jaunpur.

The court said that the affidavit filed by the probing agency is totally unsatisfactory as it indicated that no concrete effort had been made by it to arrest the accused persons, who are the policemen.

Hearing a writ petition filed by one Ajay Kumar Yadav of Jaunpur district, a division bench comprising Justice Surya Prakash Kesarwani and Justice Piyush Agrawal observed, "The averment made by the CBI that efforts are being made, appears to be merely an eyewash in view of the stand taken on the last date of hearing as recorded in the order October 27, 2021 that the CBI arrests accused only after completion of investigation."

In its affidavit, the CBI gave the details of police officers, suspects and accused persons and also stated that efforts are being made by conducting raids/ searches at their known addresses, examining their CDRs/ IPDRs, and deploying sources to get their present locations for the execution of non-bailable warrants (NBWs).

It was also stated that arrest warrants have been issued by the local police from the court of chief judicial magistrate, Jaunpur on September 6, 2021.

However, the court noted that the accused persons have not been arrested even after more than two months.

The court has granted one more opportunity to the CBI to investigate the case properly and execute the arrest warrants without any further delay and to take all consequential action as provided in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), including the provisions of sections 82 and 83 CrPC, by which the accused are declared as absconders and their properties are attached.

The court also called for an affidavit from the CBI on the next date of hearing which is November 29.

The CBI has further been asked to clarify its stand on its submission made earlier that the 'CBI arrests the accused only after completion of the investigation'.

The court had transferred the probe of the alleged death of a 24-year-old man in police custody in Jaunpur district in February this year to the CBI, while observing that "the entire effort of the police is to somehow give clean chit to the accused".

It is alleged by the petitioner that a police team of Baksa police station in Jaunpur district forcibly took away Krishna Yadav a.k.a. Pujari, who was about 24 years of age, on February 11, 2021 in an alleged false case and detained him at the police station.

When the brother of the deceased went to the police station, he was not allowed to meet his brother and the next morning, he was informed that his brother Pujari had died.

Thereafter, a case was registered against the accused police officers under Sections 302 (murder) and other sections of Indian Penal Code at Baksa police station.

On the other hand, police claimed that the youth was apprehended while he was driving a motorcycle which fell and due to which he received injuries and the public beat him up.

The police further said that when the detained youth was sent for first aid along with a sub inspector and two constables, the doctor at the community health centre referred him to district hospital, Jaunpur, and by the time they reached the district hospital, he had died.