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Where's the study on ways to curb custodial deaths, Bombay High Court asks state

Appearing for an NGO that has filed the petition highlighting the increasing number of custodial deaths in the state and almost zero conviction of the guilty, counsel Mihir Desai said there has been no compliance.

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The Bombay High Court has called for a compliance report from the government regarding a study undertaken on ways to curb custodial deaths in the state. The court had directed the director general of police in October last year to constitute a committee of three senior police officers to accept suggestions and come out with a long-term solution to minimise and finally stop custodial deaths. The study was to be completed within three months.

Appearing for an NGO that has filed the petition highlighting the increasing number of custodial deaths in the state and almost zero conviction of the guilty, counsel Mihir Desai said there has been no compliance.

Additional public prosecutor Mankuwar Deshmukh then informed the court that the process to install CCTV cameras inside 25 police stations has been started. Last year, after it was pointed out that the state topped in the country in custodial deaths, a government resolution (GR) was issued, stating that CCTV cameras will be installed in sensitive police stations on a pilot basis. Thereafter, the project was to be extended to other police stations. The

Nagpada police station became the first to have CCTV cameras in all its rooms and corridors, the court was informed.

The bench, however, said the process was to be completed within a month but is still not finished, and asked the government to file a compliance report.

In an alarming statistic, from 1999 to 2014, as many as 243 custodial deaths were reported in Maharashtra but there was not a single conviction. During the same period, only 13 FIRs were registered against police officers.

Meanwhile, the court also directed the state CID to place on record the monthly reports indicating the number of custodial deaths in the state. As per statistics submitted to the court, in 2014 there were 17 custodial deaths and in 2015, a total of 14 people were alleged to have died in custody.

The court gave the direction while hearing a petition filed by Agnelo Valdaris, father of Leonard, who allegedly died while in custody of the Wadala railway police station in 2014. The case is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

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