NHRC slams Uttar Pradesh Police, orders Rs 10 lakh payout in alleged custodial death case: Report

The postmortem, as documented by The Indian Express, described abrasions and contusions across his arms, legs and buttocks, and listed the cause of death as ‘hypoxia and shock due to antemortem lung injury with multiple blunt injuries’.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed the Uttar Pradesh government to release Rs 10 lakh in compensation to the family of the 36-year-old man who died in March 2021 after alleged torture in police custody, an Indian Express report said on Friday. The panel has also told the police to furnish proof of payment within four weeks, the Indian Express report further said.

In its detailed order, cited by The Indian Express, the Commission strongly admonished the state police for "deliberately concealing facts" and failing to offer any credible explanation for the multiple injuries identified on Ziauddin's body during the postmortem. The NHRC observed that the man had unquestionably been taken to the police station, and the autopsy noted eight separate injury marks. Yet, the report offered no account of how or when these injuries occurred, nor any justification for their presence while he was held by the police.

The Indian Express further reported that the Commission rejected the state government's response to its show-cause notice, affirming its earlier finding that Ziauddin died in police custody. The order stated that, in the absence of substantive evidence, it could not accept the police version that the death occurred outside custody, adding that the authorities appeared to be attempting to "save the skin" of the personnel involved.

As per details shared in The Indian Express, the case began with a complaint from Ziauddin's brother, Shahabuddin, who alleged that a police SWAT team led by Sub-Inspector Devendra Pal picked up his brother on March 25, 2021, while he was travelling to a relative's home. The family was informed of his death only hours later, and the complainant claimed that neither a medical examination nor a postmortem was conducted initially.

Police later stated - in accounts referenced by The Indian Express - that Ziauddin had been detained for questioning after his call records linked him to an accused in an attempted murder case. They asserted that his condition worsened while being taken to the police station, after which he was rushed to Dutt Hospital, where he died at 1.45 am on March 26, 2021.

The postmortem, as documented by The Indian Express, described abrasions and contusions across his arms, legs and buttocks, and listed the cause of death as "hypoxia and shock due to antemortem lung injury with multiple blunt injuries".

An FIR under IPC Sections 302 and 364 was eventually registered against SI Devendra Pal and a constable. However, as The Indian Express reported, the police later filed a Final Report in May 2022, asserting there was no evidence of custodial torture and maintaining that Ziauddin had never been in police custody.