Jaipur: Amid a spate of custodial deaths and allegations of police torture, Rajasthan Police has quietly eased one of its key safeguards meant to ensure unbiased investigations in such cases. For years, the standard operating procedure in Rajasthan required the entire staff of a police station to be removed from duty and sent to police lines if a custodial death occurred under their watch. This blanket removal was seen as a way to prevent interference in investigations.Now, that safeguard is being done away with. Police officials confirmed that decisions are being made on a case-to-case basis, rather than following the earlier protocol.The result is a patchy and inconsistent response to incidents of a similar nature. Take the case of Bharatpur, where a young man allegedly died by suicide on July 11 after being held in illegal custody for three days at Udhyog Nagar police station. In response, only the station house officer (SHO) and a constable were sent to police lines. But in Baran, when a 26-year-old man died under suspicious circumstances while in police custody, 23 policemen were removed from duty.Baran SP Abhishek Adhanshu said the decision to send all 23 policemen to lines was made to ensure an impartial investigation. In a different take, a senior officer from the Bharatpur range said only those directly accused of custodial torture were now removed, as per the new approach.This selective application of rules comes at a time when Rajasthan is seeing a sharp rise in allegations of police brutality. In June alone, custodial deaths were reported at Sadar police station in Jaipur and Rajiasar police station in Sriganganagar. Earlier this month, a 22-year-old man allegedly took his own life after being detained in custody. His family has claimed he was tortured while in police custody, and a complaint against the officers was filed nearly three weeks after the incident.
Police revise protocol on custodial death amid allegations of torture | Jaipur News
