NHRC action on custodial-torture complaint indicts Punjab Govt: BJP
BJP leader Tarun Chugh on Saturday said the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken cognisance of his complaint over the alleged custodial torture of a Sikh man who waved a black flag at a programme of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
A day earlier, Chugh had urged the NHRC to take suo-motu (on its own) cognisance of the alleged custodial torture of Mohanjeet Singh, who waved a black flag at Mann’s programme in Sheron village on September 2 to protest against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government’s handling of the drug menace in Punjab.
Chugh had requested the NHRC to send an independent fact-finding team to the village where the incident took place and the police station concerned, and direct the registration of an FIR against the officers involved, including the deputy superintendent of police (DSP).
The Rajya Sabha MP had also sought security and medical assistance for the victim and his family, alleging that they face serious threats from the state machinery.
The commission has taken cognisance of Chugh’s letter and written to the Punjab Government over the matter.
Sharing the NHRC letter on X, Chugh said the commission’s action is a “serious” development and a “strong indictment” of the AAP Government’s handling of human rights in Punjab.
“The Commission has ordered an immediate inquiry, medico-legal examination, preservation of CCTV footage and police records, and a point-wise Action Taken Report within two weeks,” he said, adding that the action came even as Mann has “merely” transferred the DSP involved in the matter.
Chugh alleged that the transfer was “nothing” but a mere attempt to sweep the matter under the carpet.
“A transfer is not accountability. The NHRC’s intervention must now ensure that the truth comes out and every person found responsible for custodial brutality is held strictly accountable,” he said.
He also targeted AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal over the “police excesses”.
“Arvind Kejriwal, you and your goons cannot silence dissent through police excesses. Punjab deserves justice, dignity and the rule of law,” he said.
In a letter to NHRC member Priyank Kanoongo, Chugh, who is also the BJP’s national headquarters in-charge, had alleged that Singh was arrested and subjected to brutal custodial torture after he waved a black flag at Mann’s programme in Sheron.
“Singh was subjected to brutality reminiscent of medieval-era torture,” Chugh had said, adding that he was stripped naked and beaten in custody.
“The youth’s thighs were cut with a blade, salt was rubbed onto his bleeding wounds, and he was subjected to repeated electric shocks,” the BJP leader had claimed.
“In addition, a DSP-rank officer tortured and humiliated the youth’s elderly mother and sister,” he had alleged in his complaint.
