Life term for Kotkhai custodial death: Testimonies of DGP, cops crucial in conviction

Testimonies of the then Himachal Pradesh director general of police (DGP) Somesh Goyal, additional superintendent of police (SP) Bhajan Dev Negi, two police constables, including night sentry (guard) and night munshi, who had witnessed custodial torture leading to death of a suspect Suraj at the Kotkhai police station on the intervening night of July 18 and 19, 2017, were instrumental in the conviction of eight police officials, including senior IPS officer Zahur Haider Zaidi, by the CBI court of special judge Alka Malik.

In the 375-page judgement, the CBI court has specifically termed these material witnesses as “direct evidence”.

“The witnesses who have come to depose before this court against the accused police personnel, including senior rank officers, had faced lot of pressure and trauma before narrating the incident. They could not disclose some very relevant aspects at the time of their interrogation that too on account of peculiar circumstances of the case. Therefore, the prosecution witnesses, specially constable Dinesh Kumar and Mukesh Sharma, are in fact wholly reliable witnesses in the instant case,” said the court.

The court had sentenced eight police officials including HP IG Zahur Haider Zaidi , a 1994-batch IPS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre, then deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Manoj Joshi, then sub-inspector Rajinder Singh, then assistant SI Deep Chand Sharma, then head constables Mohan Lal, Surat Singh, Rafee Mohammad and then constable Ranjit Sateta to life imprisonment on Monday.

DGP kept in dark

The then Himachal DGP Somesh Goyal told the court that after Suraj Singh’s death, IG Zaidi wrongly informed that Suraj died due to a scuffle with another suspect. IG Zaidi concealed what constable Dinesh Kumar (star witness) told him (IG) about regarding the incident.

The IG also did not submit the initial inquiry report to the DGP, rather informed through a letter that his enquiry was disrupted due to arson caused by mob at police station, while concealing the material fact that constable Dinesh Kumar had disclosed before him during inquiry conducted by him at police dtation, Kotkhai that Suraj Singh was taken upstairs in Police Station for interrogating and was brought unconscious from there.

On getting to know of the incident that an accused has died in lock up, the DGP specifically enquired from IG Zaidi that there was nothing wrong in the incident. The IG then replied that another accused has a built of WWF wrestler and he has killed Suraj Singh.

Heard Suraj’s screams for 30 minutes, followed by silence: Constable

In his testimony in court as he was examined by CBI prosecutor Amit Jindal, constable Dinesh Kumar, who was on duty as Sentry at the lockup of Kotkhai police station, deposed that Suraj along with three others were brought in at 9.30 pm and taken for interrogation and at around 11.45 pm, Suraj was brought down in unconscious condition by the accused cops. Before that he heard loud screams of Suraj for about half an hour. He got to know about Suraj’s death later. He was called to the station the next morning where seniors, including IG Zahur Haider Zaidi, were present. Zaidi asked him the truth and recorded everything in his phone and then made him sign a complaint for registering a fake FIR against another co-accused for killing Suraj following a scuffle.

Was asked to prepare false FIR: Night munshi

Similarly, another star witness constable Mukesh Sharma who was on Night Munshi duty disclosed that the complaint relating to FIR was prepared three-four hours after death of Suraj on the direction of inspector Rajinder Singh. Moreover, signatures of constable Dinesh Kumar were obtained on the complaint on direction of IG Zaidi.

The FIR was registered and finalised much later and was never uploaded, observed the court.

Third-degree torture

The co-accused in the case – Rajinder Singh and Subhash Singh- who were also key witnesses in the case and were also tortured had referred to various third-degree methods resorted to by the convicts in his testimony. He mentioned that the police personnel used to beat them with Bichoo Butti plant and they were hung upside down.