‘Torture’ of Dalits, OBCs in police custody kicks up row
TELANGANA Victims tell tales of receiving electric shocks, hot water poured on private parts
The alleged torture of eight people belonging to the weaker sections, including three Dalits, in police custody in Rajanna Siricilla district of Telangana is snowballing into a major political controversy.
Penta Banaiah, Gandham Gopal, Chepyala Bala Raju, Kola Harish, Pasula Eshwar Kumar, Cheekoti Srinivas, Korukanti Ganesh, and Bathula Mahesh were arrested on the charges of burning sand-laden trucks at Nerella village late on July 3.
They were produced in a court on July 8 and were released on conditional bail on August 2.
The incident attracted media attention only after the families of the arrested raised a hue and cry over the alleged inhuman treatment meted out to them by the police in the custody.
On July 31, former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar met some of the arrested in Karimnagar jail and demanded that guilty officers be booked under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Telugu Desam Party called for a ‘chalo Nerella’ rally on Friday to protest against the attacks.
Villagers allege that a strong lobby of sand mafia operating in the area is behind the incident.
“Though the Telangana government had given permission for restricted sand mining in the Mid-Manair project area, illegal sand mining has been going on. Every day, hundreds of sandladen trucks pass by our village at high speeds causing accidents,” Chandraiah, an agricultural labourer, told this correspondent who visited Nerella Wednesday.
“Three of our villagers were crushed to death by these trucks in a span of 15 days,” he added.
A sand-laden lorry rammed into a two-wheeler killing one Bhumaiah on the spot on the village outskirts on July 2. Enraged people from Nerella and neighbouring Jillella and Ramachandrapuram villages gathered at the accident site, stopped three trucks, and set them on fire. They also clashed with the police, who tried to control the mob.
Madhavi said her husband Balaraju and seven others were picked up by some policemen in plainclothes late on July 3.
“For the next four days, nobody knew where they were. It was only after they were produced in the court did we find out that they had been arrested in connection with the lorry burning incident,” she added.
“The police subjected us to third-degree torture – beating us indiscriminately, pouring hot water on our private parts, gave us electric shocks and administered sedatives. They threatened to kill us in encounters,” Kola Harish, a Dalit, told the media after his release from jail.
“My husband couldn’t lift his hand or look straight. He was writhing in pain when he was produced in court. When we questioned the police as to why they tortured him so much, they threatened to frame me in a prostitution case,” Renuka, wife of Ganesh, said.
Police, however, denied torturing the men. “We went only as per the rules,” Siricilla SP Vishwajit Kampati said.