Compensation awarded to victim of police negligence

The Commission has directed the Rajasthan Government to pay Rs.2.5 lakhs as immediate interim relief to the parents of a kidnapped boy who was killed by the police during a rescue operation that was apparently mismanaged. It also sought a high level inquiry into the rash and negligent handling of the situation by the police leading to the death of the child and his two kidnappers.

The boy’s father, Jitender Singh of Sahibabad, had in a complaint to the Commission, said that his six-year-old son Gaurav was kidnapped by four persons from his house on 30 March 1998. The boy was later killed when the rescue team fired indiscriminately. Mr. Singh had stated in his complaint that kidnappers had demanded Rs.20 lakhs for the release of the child. They had looted gold ornaments of his wife and mother, Rs.7000/- and his licensed rifle before escaping in his car.

The police, on being informed about the incident, had alerted police control rooms in Haryana and Rajasthan through wireless to intercept the kidnappers. In the evening, Mr. Singh was informed that his car was spotted at Roopbas, Alwar, where the encounter in which his son was injured, took place.

According to Mr. Singh’s complaint, when he reached the spot, he learnt from the people that the encounter had been stage-managed by the police. On verifying with witnesses at Roopbas, he claimed to have learnt that, after spotting the vehicle, the police gave chase. When the kidnappers were forced to stop at a railway crossing, some policemen went up to the vehicle, broke the glass of a window with a stone and sprayed bullets into the car with a stengun and a rifle, killing all the three occupants, including the kidnapped child.

However, to give the incident the colour of an encounter, the policemen took away the rifle carried by kidnappers to Latighati and fired six bullets. Mr. Singh demanded a CBI inquiry into the incident and a compensation of Rs.30 lakhs. When the Commission directed the Rajasthan Government to send its report about the incident, the IG, CID of the state forwarded the report of the Inspector General of Police (law and order) and the Superintendent of Police, Alwar. The report said the child had sustained a bullet injury in the course of an encounter between the miscreants and the police. The police firing was in "self-defense and retaliatory," it added.

However, the Commission found it difficult to accept the police version as no policemen had suffered any injury, nor had any of their vehicles been damaged. Further, media reports indicated that the rifle allegedly used by the miscreants was actually non-functional. The Rajasthan police had not forwarded the ballistic expert’s report in the matter. Although the report claimed that the police had chased the car, there was nothing to suggest it had tried to overtake the car or shoot at its tires to stop it. Besides, the police had apparently fired from close range, as the post-mortem report showed blackening/burning of the flesh around the entry wounds. Even if it was assumed that the culprits fired, the action of the police officials in discharging 18 shots suggested an excessive use of firepower, particularly since their primary purpose was to rescue the child.

The Commission has asked the State Government to entrust the probe to an officer not below the rank of Inspector General of Police and fix responsibility for the apparently, negligent and unskilled handling of the situation leading to the death of three persons i.e. the child Gaurav and the two kidnappers. It has also directed that the complainant should be given compensation for the tragic and avoidable circumstances in which his son died. The State government has been asked to pay the amount within one month and submit an Action Taken Report to the Commission.