The report questions the police version of the death of 27-year-old rickshaw puller Bijeshwar Paswan whom the police claimed to have found in an unconscious state near Radhu Palace Chowk, Preet Vihar. The report traces the disturbing collusion between police, medical practitioners and administration to present the case of custodial death so as to prevent prosecution of guilty policemen. The report mentions two other cases of custody deaths of Om Prakash Kaushik and Shankar Lal in July 1991 and there also it is the same story of the victim being picked up by police in an unconscious state who then die in hospital. The medico-legal cases register the cause of their illness or deaths from ‘poisoning’ and therefore a mechanism of denying custody and covering up the cause of death begins.
In light of this systematic process of covering up the custody deaths by Police, the report demands the implementation of the recommendation of the Law Commission in 1985 which called for shifting the burden of proof on Police in case of death in its custody.
To download the report, click below:
A Dead End: Custodial Death at Preet Vihar
