Kheda Flogging: Court Report Says Videos From Incident Are Of Poor Quality, Identifies 4 Of 14 Accused Policemen
Videos from the incident involving public flogging of Muslim men in Gujarat's Kheda last year are of poor quality and hamper identification of the accused, a Magistrate Court has reported.Nadiad CJM Chitra Ratnoo's report to the Gujarat High Court however identifies 4 of the 14 policemen accused in the incident. This includes Local Crime Branch Inspector, Sub-Inspector, Head Constable and...
Videos from the incident involving public flogging of Muslim men in Gujarat's Kheda last year are of poor quality and hamper identification of the accused, a Magistrate Court has reported.
Nadiad CJM Chitra Ratnoo's report to the Gujarat High Court however identifies 4 of the 14 policemen accused in the incident. This includes Local Crime Branch Inspector, Sub-Inspector, Head Constable and a Constable.
The division bench of Justices AS Supehia and MR Mengdey had in July ordered the CJM to analyze the pen drives and other electronic evidence including videos relating to the incident. The direction was made in a plea moved by 5 members of an affected family seeking contempt action against accused Police officers.
A group of young men were reportedly brought near a pole, where they were subjected to physical abuse. The Police action was allegedly in aftermath of the communal clash in Undhela village situated in Matar Taluka of Kheda district. It is alleged that some intruders pelted stones at the crowd during Navratri celebrations. At least 40 persons were arrested in the incident.
According to the CJM's report, the videos were recorded by onlookers and bystanders from a distance. A police van belonging to the Kheda police can be seen on the left side of the pole, it reveals.
The report further outlines that a person donning a black t-shirt with white vertical lines and a robust physique, as well as another individual in a white shirt, blue jeans, and black shoes, participated in the violence. The latter was seen delivering 3-6 blows with a stick to the victims.
The report stated, “Then they (victims) were then made to sit in the police Van. One person wearing orange white checks shirt and blue jeans with fat, fair, tall physical appearance holding white pipe, another person wearing white shirt and black pants can be seen holding stick, one person wearing black t-shirt with white vertical lines having tall dark and fat physical appearance and one person wearing light blue shirt and black pants can be seen in the most of the videos alleged to be the amongst respondents No. 02 to 14 present in the Court.”
“Other men with and without stick can be seen in the scene of incident. Men can also be seen holding mobiles as if capturing the videos. The public can be seen cheering up. Those men who were seen receiving blows and those who were giving blows by the stick are seen in Civil Dresses,” the report added.
The report mentioned that the face was not shown or side face could be seen in some videos and the videos were captured from sideways which couldn’t not be zoomed in and were blurred in enlarging pixels due to the quality of the videos.
“The pictures are blurred on zooming in and videos are taken from distance, so it is difficult to ascertain the persons amongst the respondents as well as applicants in the videos and photographs.All the photos in pen drive are screenshots of the videos and of the social or print media regarding the incidence,” the report further mentioned.
Court said pixelation and low video quality made it challenging to draw precise conclusions. Nonetheless, the court-ordered analysis led to the identification of four cops by the victims, namely:
- Respondent No. 02 - Mr. AV. Parmar [Inspector, LCB (Local Crime Branch)]: The individual seen donning a white shirt and blue jeans was unequivocally recognized as the one inflicting 3 to 6 blows using a stick on the victims.
- Respondent No. 03 - Mr. D.B. Kumavat [Sub Inspector, LCB]: Noted as the man garbed in a light blue shirt and black pants, his role seemed limited to being present in the background, with no involvement in the acts of violence.
- Respondent No. 05 - Mr. Kanaksingh Laxman Singh [Head Constable, LCB]: The figure in an orange and white checked shirt coupled with dark blue jeans was identified. Though not directly engaged in physical assault, his participation was evident in pushing the victims toward the police van while brandishing a white pipe.
- Respondent No. 13 - Mr. Raju Rameshbhai Dabhi [Constable, LCB]: This individual was recognized for securing the victims by holding their hands and affixing them to the electric pole, while Respondent No. 02 delivered the physical blows.