Blame game begins in ’custodial death’ case
Shariq Majeed
Tribune News Service

Rajouri, September 15
Physically challenged Noor Hussain, who is said to have died in police custody, may have been beaten to death by the police personnel who picked him up, in connection with a family feud, from his native village of Chowdhary Naad here on Saturday evening.

Sources in the district hospital told The Tribune that even as the police and the medical superintendent of the district hospital (DH), Rajouri, claimed that the deceased was handed over to his family in normal condition, doctors after washing his stomach had actually referred him to Government Medical College, Jammu. They said fluid was coming out of the patient’s nostrils and his condition was serious.

An eyewitness who had gone to see his nephew at the hospital and knew Noor Hussain also told The Tribune that the deceased was in a serious condition. “I told the police personnel accompanying Noor Hussain that he would not survive for long,” the eyewitness asking not to be named said.

When asked that the police and the medical authorities claimed that a brother of the deceased was with him at the hospital, the eyewitness said: “When I saw him there was nobody from his family accompanying him.”

The police authorities on Sunday had told mediapersons that the deceased was wanted by the police in connection with a family feud between two groups and a local court had issued a non-bailable warrant against him.

Medical Superintendent, district hospital, Rajouri, Zahoor Ahmed Shawl said the doctor on duty had informed him that the patient, who was accompanied by his brother was discharged after his condition became stable.

A brother of the deceased, Muhammad Bashir, said: “We are five brothers and two had died a few years ago. Our elder brother Muhammad Sharief is about 90 and cannot move and we carry him if he has to be taken somewhere. If the police and the hospital authorities are saying he was present at the hospital, it is not possible. If it is me, I was so scared that I didn’t go to the hospital.The police personnel handcuffed him in front of my family, kicked him and dragged my handicapped brother. In the morning they kept him on the road and two of them in plainclothes came to my house to inform me that my brother had died and I should take his body. They (police) killed my brother,” he said.

Deputy Commissioner, Rajouri, Jaipal Singh, said a probe committee headed by Additional Deputy Commissioner, Rajouri, Robin Singh Mehta would submit its report within 10 days.