Police officers killed a 30-year-old man in February by forcefully pressing down on his neck while attempting to arrest him in a robbery case, the man’s family has told the Bombay High Court.
Saiba, the 23-year-old wife of the deceased, Sadiq Ali Jafri, has sought an independent inquiry stating that six months after his death, an FIR has still not been registered on her complaint and a magisterial inquiry not conducted as is mandatory in cases of police action.
The division bench of Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Sharmila U Deshmukh directed the state government to file a reply on Saiba’s writ petition. In a hearing last week, the bench also directed the state to file a reply on why a magisterial inquiry was not conducted.
The court also directed authorities to provide Jafri’s post-mortem report and a copy of the inquest panchnama to his family. It also directed the Shanti Nagar police in Bhiwandi not to take action against the family members on a complaint filed against them after his death till the next hearing.
The Shanti Nagar police has filed an FIR against Jafri’s family members under sections including attempt to murder claiming that Jafri attacked them with a knife when they went to arrest him, and others later joined him in obstructing the police officers. The writ petition states that Jafri was unarmed and no injuries were caused to any police officers.
According to the petition filed through lawyers Mihir Desai and Lara Jesani on February 10, Jafri, Saiba and her brother-in-law were sitting at a paan shop in Bhiwandi. Jafri left the spot for an errand and when he was returning, two police officers from Shanti Nagar police station nabbed him in connection with a pending robbery case.
Jafri called out to his wife and brother and alerted them that the police were arresting him, and the two rushed to his side.
Saiba in her petition said she saw her husband being “violently assaulted and restrained” by police officers. She saw a police naik forcefully pressing down his neck under his arm, “in effect strangling him”. Another official and an auto driver were holding Jafri’s hands and restraining him, the petition says.
Saiba further said she and her brother-in-law begged police officers to stop assaulting her husband in this manner but were told they had orders from a senior official.
The petition further says as he was being pressed down and restrained, Jafri closed his eyes and said he was unable to breathe, and then fell unconscious. The police tried to put him into an autorickshaw but on realising he may have died, allegedly fled from the spot, the petition says.
Jafri’s family rushed him to a local clinic but were told to take him to a hospital. On bringing him to a hospital in Bhiwandi, he was declared brought dead, the petition states. It adds that they made efforts to file a complaint against the police officers but had no success. The family has also alleged that police officials threatened them not to take legal action and even offered them money. The petition names three police constables who were on the spot during the incident and one senior inspector of Shanti Nagar police station.
“The petitioner apprehends that the police officers are attempting to cover up the extrajudicial killing of the deceased and may even manipulate the post-mortem report and other crucial evidence in the case, which has not been provided to the family of the deceased till date,” the petition said. It states that while a magistrate was present at the time of the post-mortem at JJ hospital, family members have till date not been approached for any inquiry.
“…justice will only be served if the case is investigated independently as an extrajudicial killing and death in police action and the accused police officers are prosecuted for their criminal acts,” the petition states. It adds that Jafri had not received summons for the pending offence nor was he absconding. It adds that the cases pending against Jafri are part of the “undue harassment” of the youth of the Irani Muslim community, who are named in many open FIRs.
The police action was unwarranted even if he was required to be arrested in the case, it says. The petition also seeks adequate compensation to the family for the irreparable loss caused to them, including his unborn child, since Sabia is pregnant.
The police had gone to arrest Jafri in a robbery case based on a woman’s complaint that an unknown person on a bike had snatched her mangalsutra.
The High Court is likely to hear the case on September 23.