The Human Rights Defenders Alert (HRDA) on April 20, 2021 has appealed to the Jharkhand Police Director General to take necessary disciplinary actions against police officials involved in the harassment, illegal detention, arrest and brutal custodial torture of HRD Gulab Chonde.
In its report, the HRDA said that Jharkhand’s Adivasi Moolvasi Adhikar Manch member Chonde was picked up from his home and illegally detained at the Jaridi police station from August 5 to August 9, 2020. There he was brutally assaulted by batons, lashed by metal wires while police officers asked him to confess his alleged role in Maoist activities. However, he repeatedly denied all charges.
“In illegally detaining Chonde from his residence without any arrest memo or warrant, without any information to his family or lawyer, the police violated multiple sections of the DK Basu Guidelines of arrest procedures,” said the HRDA report.
Working Secretary Henri Tiphagne alleged that Chonde was targeted by the police for his participation in peaceful protests against an upcoming open-cast coal mining project, illegal detentions and land, forest and water rights.
Moreover, in addition to an absence of medical examination, the human rights defender was charged in an old case from August 2019 whose FIR did not mention Chonde’s name. Yet charged for various charges like rioting and sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, he was remanded in Tenughat jail and finally granted bail on February 10, 2021.
The HRDA condemned these violations of human rights and recommended that the alleged torturers be prosecuted by judicial or prosecutorial authorities and, if guilty, be punished with appropriate sentences.
Further, it demanded that Chonde should receive adequate compensation to for the physical and mental trauma inflicted upon him. Authorities should also record his wife Fulmani Devi’s statement wherein she talks about how the police lied about the whereabouts and reason for his arrest.
Accordingly, the HRDA asked the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to conduct an independent examination into the incident.
About HRD Gluab Chonde
The activist is a resident of Tuti Jharna village in Gomia block of Bokaro district and works for upholding land, forest and water rights of indigenous communities in Bokaro and neighbouring districts. He has participated in several meetings and programmes for protection of basic rights, and is also part of a peaceful movement against proposed coal mines and railway lines in the area.
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