Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (ANK/SP)

Mangaluru, Apr 4: Demanding that a youth who allegedly suffered atrocities at the hands of police should be provided with relief and justice and that the case of atrocities committed against him should be properly investigated by competent officers, a large number of Popular Front of India (PFI) activities mobbed the office of the city police commissioner on the morning of Tuesday April 4.

The police personnel resorted to caning the crowd to disperse them. They also took several of the protesters into custody.

Police sources said that the protestors pelted stones at the police commissioner's office and at the cops, injuring at least seven personnel including inspector Beliappa, ACP Uday Nayak and ACP Shruthi. Police commissioner reportedly said that the cops used force only after the protestors attacked them.

Sources said that the protest was held without permission.

Parents of the youth, identified as Ahmed Qureshi from Katipalla Kaikamba, claim that their son has been a victim of police excesses. They have been saying that the police illegally arrested Qureshi and then tortured him in confinement. After he developed complication due to the torture, the police have admitted Qureshi into the district Wenlock Hospital here. They said that the doctors have told them that one of his kidneys has not been functional.

The protesters demanded for the immediate discharge of Qureshi and to hold investigation into the entire incident leading to his torture, towards doing justice to him, adding that he is innocent.

In a press note, the PFI accused city crime branch (CCB) police of illegally arresting Qureshi in the name of investigation and thrashing him in an inhuman way. They demanded for the immediate suspension of CCB inspector, Sunil Naik, and sub-inspector, Shyam Sundar, and others. The PFI further sought admission of Qureshi, whose condition is said to be critical, into a private hospital for advanced care, and urged disbursal of suitable compensation to the victim as he has suffered physical disability. He warned to intensify protest if the demands are not met within three days.

"Ahmed Qureshi, who works as painting worker, is a person full of altruism and social service qualities. He was arrested from near the district courts complex on March 21 by the police on the guise of questioning. He was kept in illegal confinement from March 21 and 27, during which period he was tortured, resulting in bodily deformity. He has now been admitted into Wenlock Hospital, but family members of Qureshi have not been given information of arrest. When search warrant was filed in the court, the police did not show any respect for it. They threatened the family members who sought information about him," PFI stated, adding that Qureshi had confided about having been given electric shocks and that only after the family brought pressure was he projected as an accused in a murder attempt case and produced before a judge on March 27, after which he was ordered to be sent to judicial custody.

Over a hundred activists who created ruckus at the venue were taken into custody and taken to Urwa police station. Some of them were injured in police caning.

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