The Allahabad high court has directed a second autopsy on the body of Altaf Miyan, who died in police custody in Kasganj district in Uttar Pradesh.
PRAYAGRAJ: The Allahabad high court has directed a second autopsy on the body of Altaf Miyan, who died in police custody in Kasganj district in Uttar Pradesh.
Altaf, 22, had died in police custody at Kotwali police station in Kasganj on November 9, 2021.
The court further directed that the body of the deceased Altaf be exhumed forthwith in the presence of senior superintendent of police / superintendent of police, Kasganj. The body after it has been exhumed shall be sealed and immediately transported to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.
The court further directed that the entire process of unsealing and post-mortem and the subsequent sealing if any of the body shall be filmed on video.
Hearing a writ petition filed by Chand Miyan, father of the deceased, a division bench comprising Justice Anjani Kumar Mishra and Justice Deepak Verma observed, “At this stage, what requires consideration is the prayer made by counsel for the petitioner that he is not satisfied with the post-mortem that was conducted after his son died in police custody. He has therefore prayed for the body of the deceased to be exhumed and that a fresh post-mortem be conducted on the body preferably at the AIIMS, New Delhi. He has insisted on the post-mortem being conducted outside the Uttar Pradesh state because of the alleged involvement of the police of the UP.”
Additional advocate general, Manish Goel, who represented the state government stated that he had no objection to it.
While directing to list this case after four weeks for the next hearing, the court in its order dated February 10 said, “The order has been passed as it is the case of the petitioner based upon photographs brought on record, wherein the deceased, Altaf is shown to have hung himself from a water pipe, which was installed only three feet above the ground of the toilet.”
Earlier, on November 10, 2022, the district administration of Kasganj had ordered a magisterial inquiry into the alleged custodial death of Altaf. The police, however, had claimed that he had committed suicide in the toilet of the Kasganj station. Pursuant to the inquiry, five policemen were suspended.
Subsequently, on December 23, 2021, the high court had ordered the superintendent of police, Kasganj to file a counter affidavit in the matter.
Later, the court had on February 3, 2022 sought a status report on the magisterial inquiry ordered into the death of Altaf.
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