Medak Lockup Death: Congress Demands Arrest Of Policemen Involved

Senior Congress leader and former minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir on Sunday demanded that the State government set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the death of Mohammed Abdul Qadeer Khan, who succumbed to death allegedly due to grievous injuries caused by some Medak police officers.

Shabbir Ali also said that all that the police personnel involved in the act must be booked for murder and arrested immediately.

He also demanded a compensation of Rs 50 lakh for the victim's family.

Strongly condemning the Telangana police for trying to cover up the "custodial death", the Congress leader said that the death of Qadeer Khan due to police torture 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. He was 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. The media has been reporting about the incident ever since Qadeer Khan was admitted to a hospital and he himself recorded a video narrating how he was tortured by the police. But neither the Home Minister nor the DGP nor any other police officials have reacted, and now, after his death, they are busy trying to cover up everything," he said.

Shabbir Ali alleged that Telangana was becoming the capital of custodial deaths and torture. He recalled that a dalit woman named Mariyamma and her son Uday Kiran were brutally tortured by the police in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district, following which Mariyamma succumbed to the injuries in July last year. Two more cases were later reported from Suryapet and Kamareddy districts, he said.

He also condemned MIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi for defending the KCR government on all issues, including the custodial death of Qadeer Khan. He said that Qadeer Khan had been picked by the police from Yakutpura, which was part of the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency.

He reiterated that the KCR government should immediately announce the formation of an SIT to probe the incident, and arrest all the guilty policemen on charges of murder and under any other relevant sections.