Death of K Ramesh result of an accident, not custodial torture: Puri SP to Orissa HC

CUTTACK: The Puri SP, Kanwar Vishal Singh, on Monday claimed before the Orissa high court that the death of K Apana, also known as K Ramesh, was not a case of custodial death.
In an affidavit, Singh, who took charge as Puri SP on Sunday, said the death was accidental and a fallout of the tussle between Ramesh and police when the former was attempting to escape cop custody by aiming a gun at the police team.
Taking note of this, the division bench of chief justice Mohammad Rafiq and justice Biswanath Rath posted the matter to next week for hearing, while giving the petitioner to file a rejoinder by then.
The high court was hearing a PIL seeking a court-monitored investigation and action against the police officials involved in the death. The PIL was filed by Sarat Kumar Rayguru, a Puri-based lawyer. It also sought compensation for the family of the deceased.
In his counter affidavit, Singh claimed that the petitioner was labouring under a misconception with regards to the facts and had filed the petition on the basis of surmises and conjecture.
Singh further said police had never arrested the deceased on November 18. “It was only on receiving information regarding the arrival of the deceased, who was a known anti-social and a hardened criminal, that police attempted to apprehend him. This led to a chase and the deceased aimed a gun on police with intent to kill. The deceased was apprehended with much difficulty. Due to an accident during the tussle, he fell on a stony road, and ultimately died,” he said. “There was never an opportunity for arrest and forwarding to the court of the SDJM. The police had never tortured the deceased,” he added.
The petition had alleged that the body of the deceased was cremated on November 19 without being handed over to the family.
In his affidavit Singh said an inquest was held in the presence of an executive magistrate, father of the deceased K Gurumurty and paternal uncle K Areya. “After completion of the postmortem, the body was handed over to K Gurumurty for cremation with proper acknowledgement. Gurumurty took the body to Swargadwar, where it was cremated,” Singh claimed on the basis of dead body receipt copy and a copy of the Swargadwar register.
The affidavit said an application had been submitted to the district and sessions judge, Puri, on November 20 to depute a judicial magistrate for necessary inquiry for submission before NHRC.