Police Awards: Delhi: राष्ट्रपति पुलिस मेडल्स को लेकर कंट्रोवर्सी, दागी पुलिस अफसरों को पदक मिलने का आरोप..

SOME officers, featuring in the list of bravehearts rewarded for showing exemplary dedication in the line of duty, have a shady past. One IPS officer from Chhattisgarh and two Jammu and Kashmir police officers are facing allegations of violation of the law in varying degrees. A Police Medal for gallantry was conferred upon Ankit Garg, a former superintendent of police at Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh, this Republic Day. Garg is facing a suit in the Supreme Court for torturing a tribal woman under custody. The woman, Soni Sori, was arrested on October 8, 2011 and was allegedly tormented on the charges of being a Maoist sympathiser.

Sori had approached the apex court, which had ordered the Chhattisgarh government in December 2011 to transfer Sori from Jagdalpur to Raipur Central Prison. Government sources, however, clarified that Garg has been awarded for gallantry against Maoists, which had nothing to do with Sori’s allegations. A medical examination had revealed the presence of stones in Sori’s private parts and rectum, which she alleges are the proof of the torture she had undergone in Garg’s custody. The case is still pending before the apex court. Women’s rights groups have expressed their dismay over the medal to Garg. “ By giving an award in the face of these complaints which have not even received a cursory investigation, both the Central and state governments are condoning this sexual violence which is being perpetrated in the name of anti- Naxal operations,” Women against Sexual Violence and State Repression ( WSS), a national network of women’s organisations, said in a statement on Thursday. Similar is the case of two Jammu and Kashmir police officers, chosen for the commendation cards by the army. The army on Wednesday announced gallantry awards to five officers, three of whom were chosen for the COAS Commendation Card. One among them — Altaf Ahmad Khan, the then SP Sopore — was transferred by the state government for a custodial death in the Sopore. The other, who was given the army commanders commendation card, Ashiq Hussain Tak, the then DSP of Sopore was also transferred in the same case.

The case pertains to Nazim Rashid in a Sopore police station in August 2011. Rashid, 25, used to run a grocery store in the Sopore town. He was arrested by the Special Operation Group of the J& K police. He died in custody with his body bearing marks of torture. While two policemen – Nisar Ahmad and Mohammad Abbas — were arrested in the case, Khan was transferred and Tak was attached. Chief minister Omar Abdullah had described the custodial death of Rashid as a “ gross human rights violation and inexcusable crime”. Soni Sori, a tribal woman, had alleged torture in custody.