Medak custodial death: Shabbir Ali demands SIT, cops' arrest

HYDERABAD: Former Minister and ex-Leader of Opposition in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir demanded on Sunday that the State Government form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the death of Mohammed Abdul Qadeer Khan while in the custody of the Medak police.

He demanded that all police personnel involved in the incident be charged with murder and arrested immediately. He also demanded that Rs. 50 lakh be paid to the victim's family.

Shabbir Ali strongly condemned the Telangana Police for trying to cover up the custodial death. "Why is Home Minister Mahmood Ali silent on this issue? Why is he not at least acknowledging the custodial death of Qadeer Khan? Is this the KCR government's example of 'Friendly Policing'?" he asked.

The Congress leader said that the death of Qadeer Khan due to police torture had raised many questions about the functioning of the Telangana Police.

"Qadeer Khan was first picked up from the Old City of Hyderabad as a suspect in a theft case; brutally tortured for five days in a police station in Medak and then placed under illegal house arrest. He was denied medical help although he suffered multiple fractures, dislocation of the spine and renal failure. He had to escape house arrest to get himself admitted to a hospital in Hyderabad. Media kept reporting about the incident since Qadeer Khan was admitted to a hospital and the victim himself recorded a video narrating how he was tortured by the police. But neither the Home Minister nor the DGP or other police officials reacted and now after his death, they are busy trying to cover up everything," he alleged.

Shabbir Ali sarcastically commented that Telangana was becoming the capital of 'custodial deaths and torture'. He said that a Dalit woman Mariyamma and her son Uday Kiran were brutally tortured by the police in Yadadadri Bhuvanagiri district and later Mariyamma succumbed to the injuries in July last year. Two more cases were later reported from Suryapet and Kamareddy districts. "Instead of ensuring the safety of common people, Home Minister Mahmood Ali leaves no occasion to praise the Telangana police and its 'friendly policing'," he said adding that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao never reacted on the rising incidents of custodial deaths in different parts of Telangana.

He also condemned MIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi for defending the KCR Government on all issues including the custodial death of Qadeer Khan. He pointed out that Qadeer Khan was picked by the police from Yakutpura, which is part of the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency. "The MIM leader went to Bharatpur in Rajasthan to meet the families of two youths Junaid and Nasir who were murdered in Haryana by the right-wing goons. While we strongly condemn the murder of Junaid and Nasir and demand stern action against the culprits, we expect Asaduddin Owaisi to express a similar reaction over Qadeer Khan's custodial death. Why did not Asaduddin Owaisi visit the Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad where Qadeer Khan was admitted for 23 days? Is he not trying to protect the KCR Government as he did in the past in similar cases?" he asked.

Shabbir Ali demanded that the KCR Government announce the formation of SIT to probe the incident and arrest all the guilty policemen on the charges of murder and other relevant sections.