Referring to what he calls “illegal detention and custodial torture by a Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel at the Pundit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction Railway Station”, Kirity Roy, secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), in a complaint to the Director General, Railway Protection Force (RPF), New Delhi, ,has demanded that the incident must be “inquired into” by a neutral authority.
Insisting that the unruly RPF and police personal must be booked under the law for their alleged intimidating acts against the son of a businessman, the human rights campaigner said, “The victim and witnesses must be protected with adequate measures”, and he “must be adequately compensated for loss of his repute and financial loss.”
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I would like to draw your kind attention to the extremely shocking treatment of Mr. Jamshed Molla by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel and plain clothed policemen that resulted in him suffering torture, humiliation and mental trauma.Mr. Jamshed Molla, son of Mr. Jubbar Molla, aged about 54 years, by profession businessman, by faith Muslim is a bonafide Indian citizen and resident of village – Purba Polta, post office – Gobindapur, police station – Swarupnagar of North 24 Parganas (district) in West Bengal, boarded Duronto Express train on 19/10/2023 from Sealdah station and bound to New Delhi station and reached Pundit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction (DDU) Railway Station on 20/10/2023 at around 01:55 hours.
He was accosted near his confirmed berth (berth number 56 and coach number B- 9) by RPF personnel along with a posse of plain clothed policemen. They forced him to deboard the train and get into a car outside the station premises that took him to a room. There were five policemen in the room and four of them assaulted him badly.
Mr. Jamshed Molla was asked about his religious identity and on getting to know that he practices Islam, the degree of assault increased with the use of heavy boots and wooden sticks. He was also abused with the use of filthy words and they repeatedly accused him of being a ‘Muslim smuggler’ without initiating any investigation to substantiate their claims. Mr. Molla was abused and assaulted only because of his religious identity.
Again, in the morning hours of 20/10/2023, another round of assault was perpetrated upon him along with verbal abuses. He was then made to sign on seven to eight blank papers and taken to a hospital, where he was again forced to put his signature on a blank paper. Mr. Molla was specifically directed to declare before the physician not to report on any assault and physical pain on him. He was threatened to be put behind bars in a false criminal case if he speak about the assault he has faced.
Mr. Jamshed Molla was not charged with any criminal case by those railway policemen.
On fearing for his life and safety, he did not report any pain or discomfort to the physician. The medical examination was also not thorough. He was then taken out of the hospital and forced inside a car, which finally dropped him at the Varanasi railway station. He returned home by boarding a train from the same station.
Mr. Molla was fearful of his safety there and he was too scared to even consider lodging a complaint with the local authorities. On reaching his residence, he made a written complaint to the office of the District Magistrate, North 24 Parganas.
Sir, it is highly disturbing to note the manner in which the serving personnel of RPF violated every constitutional provision and rule of the law in conducting a professional enquiry on suspicion of a crime having been committed.
The incident is an infringement of Article 21, 22 and 15 of Indian Constitution. It is also in contravention to the article 7 and 18 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; which the government of India ratified well before.
Hence, I seek your urgent intervention in this present case with following demands:
Again, in the morning hours of 20/10/2023, another round of assault was perpetrated upon him along with verbal abuses. He was then made to sign on seven to eight blank papers and taken to a hospital, where he was again forced to put his signature on a blank paper. Mr. Molla was specifically directed to declare before the physician not to report on any assault and physical pain on him. He was threatened to be put behind bars in a false criminal case if he speak about the assault he has faced.
Mr. Jamshed Molla was not charged with any criminal case by those railway policemen.
On fearing for his life and safety, he did not report any pain or discomfort to the physician. The medical examination was also not thorough. He was then taken out of the hospital and forced inside a car, which finally dropped him at the Varanasi railway station. He returned home by boarding a train from the same station.
Mr. Molla was fearful of his safety there and he was too scared to even consider lodging a complaint with the local authorities. On reaching his residence, he made a written complaint to the office of the District Magistrate, North 24 Parganas.
Sir, it is highly disturbing to note the manner in which the serving personnel of RPF violated every constitutional provision and rule of the law in conducting a professional enquiry on suspicion of a crime having been committed.
The incident is an infringement of Article 21, 22 and 15 of Indian Constitution. It is also in contravention to the article 7 and 18 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; which the government of India ratified well before.
Hence, I seek your urgent intervention in this present case with following demands:
- The whole matter must be inquired into by one neutral enquiring authority
- The unruly RPF and police personal must be booked under the law for their alleged intimidating acts
- The victim and witnesses must be protected with adequate measures
- Victim must be adequately compensated for loss of his repute and financial loss
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