Jt CP asks cops to stringently follow SC guidelines during interrogation

Kolkata: Amidst the controversy regarding a person's death inside Sinthee police station a few days ago, Joint Commissioner of Police (Jt CP), Crime, Murlidhar Sharma has sent an instruction to all the Officer in Charges (OCs) and Deputy Commissioners (DCs) to stringently follow the guidelines given by the Supreme Court in this regard.

On Wednesday Murlidhar sent the instructions through e-mail where police officials have been reminded about the guidelines of the apex court which was given in a case between – D K Basu and the state of West Bengal in December 1996.

Sending the instructions led to a controversy over the procedure of interrogation of Raj Kumar Shaw who was allegedly assaulted by three police officers inside Sinthee police station following which he died.

In the e-mail, the Jt CP, Crime clearly instructed the OCs and DCs to take every possible precaution whenever any person is taken into police custody. It has also been instructed that a thorough search on the person should be conducted to ensure that no unwarranted items are sneaked inside the lock up.

The OCs have also been instructed to keep the areas inside police station – like the lock up, 'seresta', Investigating Officer's (IOs) room and few other areas under round the clock CCTV surveillance.

As per the guidelines of the apex court, police personnel who is carrying out arrest or handling interrogation should bear accurate, visible and clear identification along with name tags and designations. The particulars of the said police personnel must be recorded in a register.

Also, the accused persons must be made aware about his rights upon detaining and arresting them and must allow their lawyers to meet them.

The concerned police officer must prepare a memo of arrest which should be signed accordingly by at least one witness. Also periodical health check-up should be done.

This apart, OCs have been instructed to check the health of any person before interrogation even if he or she has been detained on suspicion.

This apart Murlidhar has also mentioned about the instructions from Commissioner of Police (CP), Kolkata, Anuj Sharma regarding personal conduct as well as behaviour towards people.

After Sharma took over as CP, Kolkata, he had issued clear instructions about how to behave with people approaching police for any kind of reason.

The CP had clearly stated that under no circumstances police officials can deny lodging any complaint or helping a person in distress, even though the matter of jurisdiction may come in the way. 

(Image from catchnews.com)