New Delhi: Nearly 1.5 years after a shocking video emerged showing policemen forcing injured men to sing the national anthem during the communal violence in North-East Delhi, three of the policemen involved have reportedly been identified. According to the Indian Express, a lie-detector test is likely to be performed on the three policemen. None of them have been arrested so far.
The video of 23-year-old Faizan, along with other Muslim men, being forced to sing the national anthem as they lay injured on the road on February 24, 2020 became viral during the riots. On February 26, 2020, Faizan passed away soon after his release, with his mother telling The Wire that her son had died because the police denied him medical treatment.
The Indian Express reported that the special investigation unity of the Crime Branch has interviewed more than 100 policemen in the case and scanned duty charts of the times involved. “Almost after 17 months, police have zeroed in on three policemen, and senior officers have been informed. A lie-detector test will be conducted on them after taking their consent,” the newspaper quoted a senior officer as saying.
Earlier, the Delhi Police had told a court that CCTV cameras of the police station where Faizan was detained were not working due to a ‘technical fault’. The location where the video of the police violence was shot is reportedly surrounded by three-four police stations, and the probe team was unable to immediately know which policemen were involved.
“While scanning a video recorded from afar, investigators noticed that one of the personnel was carrying tear smoke munitions (TSM). Whenever any force goes out for deployment, personnel are issued TSM under their name from their units. The investigating officer checked the register of forces from outside the area to verify entries made while issuing TSMs that day. On the basis of the footage and one of the entries, they first identified a personnel posted with the DAP. He was called in for questioning and later his two colleagues were summoned by the SIT to their office in Darya Ganj,” a police officer told Indian Express.
The Bhajanpura police station had filed an FIR on February 28 in connection with the incident, which was later transferred to the Crime Branch. Faizan’s mother Kismatun filed a petition seeking an SIT probe instead, labelling the Crime Branche’s probe into the murder case a “sham”.
The petition also asks “to place an record all Service and Conduct Rules, Regulations, Office Orders, Memorandums etc. which prohibit and penalise discrimination, hate speech and targeted action against religious minorities by policemen on duty.”
The footage of policemen assaulting already injured men, along with other incidents of inaction during the riots, supported allegations made by some victims that the Delhi police acted partially during the riots.
A report by NGO Amnesty International in August 2020 accused the Delhi police of being complicit in the riots and accused it of committing serious human rights violations. The report criticised the Union home ministry for its failure to “hold the Delhi police accountable.”
“This, despite several of their (police’s) violations being live-streamed on social media platforms,” the report said.