By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: Maharashtra tops all states in India in the cases of police custody deaths while Uttar Pradesh is at No. 2 followed by Gujarat – the BJP-ruled state has witnessed rapid growth custodial deaths since 2002, the year of Godhra train burning and pogrom. Since October 1993, the National Human Rights Commission has registered 2318 cases of police custody deaths from across the country. Almost all the cases were registered at complaints of higher district police or civil authority.
Of 2318 cases of custodial deaths in the last 16 years Maharashtra has 316 cases. Others among the top five are Uttar Pradesh (255), Gujarat (190), Bihar (184) and West Bengal (164).
As for Muslims as victims in these cases, Maharashtra has 27 cases, UP 27 Gujarat 29 Bihar 14 and West Bengal 36.
NHRC provided this information to RTI activist Afroz Alam Sahil when he asked in a petition about the custodial deaths since October 1993.
It is interesting to note that of 190 cases of custodial deaths reported from Gujarat in the last 16 years (October 1993-October 2009), 163 cases were registered from 2002 onward. Also, of 29 cases involving Muslims as victims, 19 are from 2002 onward. See the table.
|
State |
Custodial |
Cases of |
|
Andhra Pradesh |
160 |
5 |
|
Arunachal Pradesh |
6 |
0 |
|
Assam |
158 |
35 |
|
Bihar |
184 |
14 |
|
Goa |
8 |
1 |
|
Gujarat |
190 |
29 |
|
Haryana |
60 |
2 |
|
Himachal Pradesh |
9 |
0 |
|
J&K |
12 |
4 |
|
Karnataka |
99 |
11 |
|
Kerala |
62 |
7 |
|
Madhya Pradesh |
102 |
4 |
|
Maharashtra |
316 |
27 |
|
Manipur |
9 |
0 |
|
Meghalaya |
23 |
1 |
|
Mizoram |
1 |
0 |
|
Nagaland |
7 |
0 |
|
Orissa |
40 |
0 |
|
Punjab |
114 |
1 |
|
Rajasthan |
73 |
4 |
|
Tamil Nadu |
134 |
5 |
|
Tripura |
12 |
0 |
|
Uttar Pradesh |
255 |
27 |
|
West Bengal |
164 |
36 |
|
Andaman & Nic |
1 |
0 |
|
Chandigarh |
4 |
0 |
|
Dadar & N H |
1 |
0 |
|
Delhi |
73 |
11 |
|
Lakshadeep |
1 |
0 |
|
Poducherry |
5 |
0 |
|
Chhattisgarh |
35 |
1 |
|
Jharkhand |
35 |
6 |
|
Uttarakhand |
16 |
2 |
In fake police encounter cases in the last 16 years, Uttar Pradesh is on top 716 fake encounter cases registered at National Human Rights Commission. No other state in the country has entered three-digit figure. While at No. 2 in fake encounter cases, Bihar with 184 custodial deaths is at No. 4.
The 51-page document detailing fake encounter cases registered at NHRC between October 1993 and October 2009 was also accessed by RTI activist Afroz who recently hit headlines after he secured post-mortem report of Batla House encounter victims.
See the table of fake encounters.
|
State |
Fake |
Cases of |
|
Andhra Pradesh |
73 |
2 |
|
Assam |
11 |
0 |
|
Bihar |
79 |
4 |
|
Gujarat |
20 |
12 |
|
Haryana |
18 |
3 |
|
J&K |
18 |
9 |
|
Karnataka |
10 |
3 |
|
Madhya Pradesh |
36 |
5 |
|
Maharashtra |
61 |
16 |
|
Manipur |
18 |
3 |
|
Orissa |
3 |
0 |
|
Punjab |
31 |
0 |
|
Rajasthan |
11 |
1 |
|
Tamil Nadu |
24 |
0 |
|
Tripura |
4 |
0 |
|
Uttar Pradesh |
716 |
131 |
|
West Bengal |
8 |
0 |
|
Andaman & Nic |
1 |
0 |
|
Delhi |
22 |
8 |
|
Chhattisgarh |
6 |
1 |
|
Jharkhand |
21 |
5 |
|
Uttarakhand |
29 |
9 |