NHRC finds signs of mental and physical torture of alleged SIMI operatives in Bhopal central jail Director general jail dubs report as one-sided and bereft of truth

A three-member committee of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has found violations of human rights of alleged SIMI operatives lodged in Bhopal central jail, as per reports submitted by the committee to the commission.

As per both the NHRC reports available with HT the team found that 21 alleged SIMI operatives were being tortured physically and mentally. While first report underlined signs of physical and mental torture the second report talked of the signs of mental torture. The first team visited the jail in June 2017 while the second team in December 2017.

However, Sanjay Choudhary, director general of jail department termed the first report as one-sided and bereft of reality while, he said, he had no knowledge about the second report as yet.

The director general Jail said, “The NHRC team has submitted a one-sided report of their June visit. We have already submitted the rebuttal of the first report point wise before the NHRC in January 2018 . The matter is pending with NHRC which is hearing the case.”

However, a relative of one of prisoners Khalil Chauhan said, “The NHRC has endorsed the truth of the torture we have been talking about for a long time but the government didn’t believe us. Ironically, the torture continues even after the NHRC reports.”

On the repeated complaints of family members of SIMI prisoners and activists, NHRC sent its team in June 2017 to look into the allegations.

As per official sources the commission sought a reply from the state government vis-à-vis the first report in October 2017. The state government sent a reply in January 2018.

As per the first report, the alleged SIMI operatives were not being allowed to sleep properly, as they were repeatedly asked to show their presence in their barracks during night hours in view of the alleged escape of 8 SIMI operatives in October 2016, who were later killed in an encounter with police.

In the findings, team said, “The jail doctor seems to have helped the jail authorities in covering up the incidents of torture by omitting crucial details from the medical record.”

The first report of the NHRC team which visited in June 2017 further says, “After the jail break, the prison conditions have changed drastically. They were allowed to go out to their cells only for 10-15 minutes. They were not allowed to talk to anyone. The cells are fitted with exhaust fan but it was not found switched on. Injury marks on the body of prisoners could not have been but the result of the assault on them in the jail…They are deprived of necessary sleep..”

Another NHRC team visited in December 2017 and found that the physical torture of alleged SIMI operatives had decreased but mental torture still continued due to their solitary confinement and their being repeatedly asked to show their presence in their barrack during nights hours and their being subjected to use of foul language and mistreatment.