To,
Shri Nitish Kumar
Hon’ble Chief Minister, Bihar Patna, Bihar
15th March, 2019
Subject: Torture and death of two men in police custody (Dumra PS, Sitamarhi district)
Dear Chief Minister,
- It is with much anguish that we, members of Constitutional Conduct – a group of former civil servants that takes up, from time to time, matters of exceptional national interest – write to you, to express our alarm at the reported case of custodial torture leading to death of two men in police custody in Sitamarhi district on the 7th of March 2019. We urge you to take immediate action to conduct independent enquiry; follow set guidelines of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Supreme Court in custodial torture and death cases; prosecute those found responsible, ensuring the severest punishment; and provide the families adequate compensation, besides protection where need be, and legal aid.
- Media reports of the incident reveal grave violations by the police. These include the alleged torture to death of the men picked up in a case of robbery and murder. Families have shared photos and a video clip of the victims’ bodies showing marks of nails hammered into them. The police did not allow the families to see the bodies when they first informed them of the deaths, the bodies themselves having been handed over to the families only after 24 hours of And while the Director General of Bihar Police has confirmed the custodial death and called it “unacceptable”, it is being reported that the FIR registered does not mention the appropriate sections, viz. Section 302, IPC for murder, nor does it name the police personnel involved. These lacunae already raise serious suspicion about the police’s intent to probe this case lawfully.
- You would agree, Mr. Chief Minister, that this is a very serious case of violation of right to life and due judicial process of the victims. In an environment of communal polarisation, concerns are being raised about this being, besides a case of police excess, also one that might be motivated by bias against a particular community. Given the circumstance, we urge you to ensure immediate action so as to restore trust in your administration.
- We specifically demand the following actions:
- Immediate arrest and prosecution of the absconding police officers under Sec. 302 IPC;
- Follow in full, NHRC’s guidelines on custodial torture and death, including instructions on conducting post mortem, video-filming, and magisterial enquiry;
- Ensure that the investigation is conducted by police from outside the district, preferably by an SIT comprising of senior officers with impeccable integrity;
- a time-bound and independent inquiry under Section 176(1-A) CrPC be conducted immediately by a Judicial Magistrate, and her report acted upon, besides sharing the report with the NHRC as required under law;
- state government award compensation to the families for reparation of the loss;
- State government ensure victim/witness protection, and provision of legal aid to the families, seeing to it that the State Legal Services Authority appoint a senior lawyer to assist the family from this stage
- We thank you for your consideration and look forward to speedy action against the perpetrators of the custodial crime.
Yours sincerely,
| SN | Name | Service | Last position held |
| 1 | Ambrose, SP | IAS, Retd. | Former Additional Secretary, Ministry of Shipping & Transport, Government of India (GoI) |
| 2 | Agnihotri, Anita | IAS, Retd. | Former Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, GoI |
| 3 | Balagopal, Gopalan | IAS, Retd. | Former Special Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
| 4 | Balakrishnan, Chandrashekhar | IAS, Retd. | Former Secretary, Coal, GoI |
| 5 | Bhaduri, Madhu | IFS, Retd. | Former Ambassador to Portugal |
| 6 | Burra, Sundar | IAS, Retd. | Former Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra |
| 7 | Chandramohan, R. | IAS, Retd. | Former Principal Secretary, Transport and Urban Development, Govt. of NCT of Delhi |
| 8 | Chaudhuri, Kalyani | IAS, Retd. | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
| 9 | Dani, Anna | IAS, Retd. | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra |
| 10 | Dayal, Nareshwar | IFS, Retd. | Former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs and High Commissioner to the United Kingdom |
| 11 | Deb, Pradeep K. | IAS, Retd. | Former Secretary, Deptt. Of Sports, GoI |
| 12 | Desiraju, Keshav | IAS, Retd. | Former Health Secretary, GoI |
| 13 | Devasahayam, MG | IAS, Retd. | Former Secretary, Govt. of Haryana |
| 14 | Ghate, Prabhu | IAS, Retd, | Former Addl. DG, Department of Tourism, GoI |
| 15 | Gupta, Meena | IAS, Retd. | Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, GoI |
| 16 | Habibullah, Wajahat | IAS, Retd. | Former Secretary, GoI and Chief Information Commissioner |
| 17 | Hassan, Sajjad | IAS, Retd. | Former Secretary, Government of Manipur |
| 18 | Jaswal, Kamal | IAS, Retd. | Former Secretary, Department of Information Tech., GoI |
| 19 | Khanna, Vinod | IFS, Retd. | Former Additional Secretary, MEA |
| 20 | Kumar, Brijesh | IAS, Retd. | Former Secretary, Department of Information Tech., GoI |
| 21 | Kumar, Sudhir | IAS, Retd. | Former Member, Central Administrative Tribunal |
| 22 | Lal, Subodh | IPoS, Retd. | Former Deputy Director General, Ministry of Communications, GoI |
| 23 | Mehta, Aditi | IAS, Retd. | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan |
| 24 | Mukhopadhyay, Pranab | IAS, Retd. | Former Director, Institute of Port Management, GoI |
| 25 | Nampoothiri, PGJ | IPS, Retd. | Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Gujarat |
| 26 | Pande, Amitabha | IAS, Retd. | Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoI |
| 27 | Perti, Alok | IAS, Retd. | Former Secretary, Ministry of Coal, GoI |
| 28 | Raghupati, NK | IAS, Retd. | Former Chairman, Staff Selection Commission, GoI |
| 29 | Ribeiro, Julio | IPS, Retd. | Former Adviser to Governor of Punjab & Ambassador to Romania |
| 30 | Sanan, Deepak | IAS, Retd. | Former Principal Adviser (AR) to Chief Minister, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh |
| 31 | Saxena, N. C. | IAS, Retd. | Former Secretary, Planning Commission, GoI |
| 32 | Selvaraj, Ananthappa | IRS, Retd. | Former Chief Commissioner, Income Tax, Chennai, GoI |
| 33 | Sen, Ardhendu | IAS, Retd. | Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
| 34 | Sengupta, Abhijit | IAS, Retd. | Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI |
| 35 | Seth, Aftab | IFS, Retd. | Former Ambassador to Japan |
| 36 | Sharma, Ashok | IFS, Retd. | Former Ambassador to Finland and Estonia |
| 37 | Talha, Parveen | IRS, Retd. | Former Member, Union Public Service Commission |
| 38 | Tyabji, Hindal | IAS, Retd. | Former Chief Secretary rank, Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir |
Constitutional Conduct Group 