High Court Orders Probe into Custodial Torture by KPHB Police

The Telangana High Court has ordered an inquiry into allegations of third-degree custodial torture, illegal detention, and attempts to falsely implicate a 40-year-old occupational therapist by personnel at the Kukatpally Housing Board (KPHB) police station in Hyderabad.

Justice T. Madhavi Devi issued the order while hearing a petition filed by the therapist, who sought criminal action against the KPHB station house officer and other staff, along with Rs 15 lakh in compensation. The petitioner alleged that he was illegally detained and tortured, including having headache ointment applied to his private parts, throughout the intervening night of August 3 and 4.

Taking note of the petitioner's statements and medical records, the court directed the Cyberabad Police Commissioner to conduct a detailed inquiry into the allegations. The High Court also ordered the preservation and production of CCTV footage from the KPHB police station covering the night of August 3 and 4, while directing police not to take coercive action against the petitioner without following due process of law.

According to the petitioner, the issue originated after a 17-year-old domestic help associated with a physiotherapy clinic went missing, leading to a case registered at KPHB police station on July 13 against another individual. The petitioner stated he was targeted merely because the minor had made a brief phone call to him requesting money before disappearing.

The therapist alleged that KPHB police detained him without informing him of the grounds at 7 pm on August 3. He claimed personnel assaulted him in an unmonitored room to force a confession, threatened to implicate him in cases under the POCSO Act and NDPS Act, and later made him the prime accused in the FIR with a backdated entry after his advocate intervened.

Following his release, the petitioner underwent medical examination and treatment at Gandhi Hospital, submitting the resulting X-rays and scans to the court as evidence of his injuries. The petitioner's counsel has also requested a magisterial inquiry and the transfer of the abduction investigation to an officer of SP or DCP rank from another commissionerate.