Rizwan told India Tomorrow that Ramzan before his death, had in a video clip, said that he was brutally assaulted by the police and he was threatened that he should not inform anyone about it.
Masihuzzma Ansari | India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI—Ramzan Ali, a convict in an old case, who hails from Mangrol hamlet in Baran District of Rajasthan, succumbed to injuries, on April 26, 2019 while he was in police custody.
The family levelled serious allegations of torture and use of coercive techniques during police custody leading to his death after which the district magistrate ordered an inquiry.
The findings of the report which have come recently, however, have given a clean chit to the accused policemen. The clean chit report has left the family unhappy who further alleged that it was “biased”.
Ali’s son Mohammad Rizwan told India Tomorrow that after the incident, the family met Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and he had promised a fair probe into the incident. “A magisterial inquiry was ordered but it gave a clean chit to the accused policemen which has left all the family members heartbroken,” he said.
Ali was accused in a criminal case in 1989 and the court awarded him two years of imprisonment on Feb 2, 2018. He came out on bail from Baran jail due to failing health on March 7, 2018 and after 15 days of medical treatment, went back to jail. On April 20, he again fell ill and his treatment was going on at Kota Hospital where he breathed his last on April 26, 2018.
The Baran police came under fire from the family and relatives for allegedly passing religious comments, demanding bribe, torture and harassment of the deceased. The police comments related to his Muslim cap and beard were strongly objected by the family members.
Rizwan said that before his death, Ramzan Ali, in a video clip, alleged about his police torture and the threats issued by the cops. However, the magisterial report has questioned the credibility of the clip, he said.
The post-mortem report and witnesses’ statement in the magisterial report testify that Ramzan Ali died of serious injuries. However, the report does not indict any cop and has given them a clean chit.
“We had expected the Congress Government to give us justice. Initially, it tried to show us that it was giving us justice by way of magisterial inquiry but later on, it gave clean chit to the accused which shows the inherent bias of the administration and governance towards us,” he said.
The family said that when custodial deaths took place at different police stations in Rajasthan, the government ordered suspension of the accused policemen immediately but in Ramzan’s case, the government looked the other way, perhaps, because he was a Muslim. “It reveals that hidden anti-Muslim bias in the DNA of the Congress which feigns secularism, takes their votes and then keeps them under fear through tools of torture and oppression”, alleged Ramzan’s family members.
The family members further alleged, “Ramzan Ali was mercilessly beaten and was chained and tied upside down. Due to inhuman torture, his condition deteriorated and he was referred to the hospital where he died”.
Rizwan said, “My father was in prison on Aug 28, 2018 and he was in absolutely good condition but on April 19, 2019, I received a call from a prison official who identified himself as Dinesh Meena. Meena told me that my father had fallen ill and has been admitted to Kota hospital.
But Meena did not allow us to meet my father at Kota Prison Yard Medical College. The next day we were informed that his condition was critical and he was being shifted to Jaipur. Without informing me, the police discharged my father from Kota Hospital. The central prison authorities informed me on the phone on April 26, 2018 that my father had died”.
Rizwan specifically pointed out the role of two policemen who allegedly were responsible for his father’s death. “When I met my father at AMS Hospital ward, he told me that police guard Ramdhan and Dinesh Meena had beaten him brutally and threatened him not to reveal it to anybody,” he alleged.
“Surprisingly, the magisterial report has given clean chit to the accused policemen, their senior officials, jail officials and the medical professional who were all hand in glove in the organised murder of his father”, he alleged.
Advocate Ansar Indori, who is the family’s lawyer, said “ The magisterial inquiry has given a clean chit to the policemen. The family has complained to the court seeking registration of FIR against the accused and the application is pending. The matter will come up for hearing on December 18 and if FIR is not registered, then we will challenge the court’s order in the higher court. The magisterial inquiry report has recorded that serious injuries were observed on the body of the deceased”.
BJP demands justice for Ramzan Ali
BJP political workers met the family members and demanded action against the accused policemen and expressed their sympathies with the family. The BJP leaders, who met the family, consisted of former minister Premnarayan Galav, who demanded a judicial inquiry, compensation and job for one of the family members of the deceased.
