Delhi HC transfers Ankit Gujjar’s death probe to CBI
The 14-page order said that Gujjar’s case calls for immediate remedial actions by the state so that “unscrupulous officers” at jail do not take advantage of the non-working CCTVs to indulge in illegal activities
The Delhi high court on Wednesday transferred the probe in the alleged custodial death of Ankit Gujjar at Tihar jail on August 4 from the local police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), saying his injuries indicated that he was brutally beaten and left unattended.
Justice Mukta Gupta said Gujjar was not given proper medical treatment and the investigation also needed to probe the role of jail doctors. “Not only did Narender Meena (Dy Superintendent) and others assault the deceased mercilessly, the jail doctor also failed to perform his duty when he examined Ankit at 1am and administered the injection, as he neither informed the senior officers of his condition nor referred him to the hospital. It is unfathomable that the jail doctor did not see the multiple injuries on Ankit,” the court said.
The 14-page order said that Gujjar’s case calls for immediate remedial actions by the state so that “unscrupulous officers” at jail do not take advantage of the non-working CCTVs to indulge in illegal activities. The next date of hearing is October 28.
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The judgment comes on a plea by 29-year-old Gujjar’s mother Geeta seeking a CBI probe into the alleged murder of her son. In the plea, Gujjar’s family contended that he was harassed by the jail officials as he was “unable to meet their regularly increasing demands for money” and was murdered “as a part of pre-planned conspiracy”.
The counsel for the mother argued that the “police was not conducting investigation in proper format” as the DVR of the CCTV installed in the jail was yet to be recovered and the aspect of extortion by jail officials through online transactions was not being looked into.
The plea submitted that Tihar Jail authorities are operating an “organised extortion syndicate” and the police were trying to manipulate the investigation in order to shield the culprits.