THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: “Kerala State Police Chief Subramanian will be re-opening the probe files of those police custodial deaths listed by Amnesty.
In a Conversation with The Pioneer on Friday Subramanian declared that while police torture ‘was prevalent in the nation he ‘was totally against such methods and blamed the situation on the Jack of education of police personnel and a distinct lack of awareness of human nights.
“I am totally against third degree” Subramanian said. “I don’t accept torture as a police philosophy if anybody (in Kerala) practices third degree at any level (in the police force) then I hold him ‘solely responsible. And I don’t mind taking the strongest possible action.” he asserted.
The Amnesty International document had published eight Known cases of custodial deaths in Kerala about which the course of official action was not known. The deaths had occurred between 1985 and 1991.
However the police chief who has done tenures in the North east and Punjab also said that the common man must be educated about his basic right so as to prevent any possible bending of the law by corrupt policemen.
“Democratic checks and balances have to be brought into play by police in the country” Subramanian said “Although the Jaws are the same throughout the country the implementation varies from state to state” he added when asked about the violations of human rights in States like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
The police chief was of the view that brute force was not the answer to police problems and declared his intention to tone up the police machinery in his State. He gave an example of the suspension of a circle inspector recently because the officer did not adhere to his order on how lockups and their inmates should be maintained.
“If any police officer in the country thinks he can solve problems by brute force then he is living in a fool’s paradise” the police chief said.
Venting his concern about the gross abuse of the common man especially those belonging to the weaker sections of society the police chief said that it was imperative to educate the policeman especially of the State cadres about human rights. And he claimed that proper training of police personnel would help upgrade operational efficiency.
“Policemen must if necessary even be brainwashed into accepting the belief that third degree is not the answer to solve human problems” Subramanian said. He admitted that there were some sadists in the police force who enjoyed brutalizing people.
“No one would like to watch people die except sadists” the police chief said. “Unfortunately like in every walk of life we too have sadists.”
Answering a question on the illegal detention of suspects the DGP was firm on the point that nobody should be kept in police custody for more than the legal 24 hours before being produced in a court. “I am against a person being kept in police custody beyond the legal time limit” he said. “Even this constitutes an offence which can be proceeded against.”
The police chief however was satisfied with the human rights situation in Kerala when compared to northern states and pointed out that there has been no human rights violation in the last six months in the State. Kerala should be projected as the model for other states to follow when it comes to human rights abuse he said while assuring action on all the cases of custodial deaths listed in the Amnesty International report. “A person who is in police custody must be allowed human dignity” he answered.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 1, 1992
