NIDHI SURENDRANATH
Forest department officers who claim to have nabbed poachers red-handed have now been directed to appear in a test identification parade before the accused.
The parade was ordered after a proactive police officer met an accused in judicial custody and recorded a statement against the forest officers accusing them of torture.
Officials of the Kollengode forest range insist there were several irregularities in the case.
“The poachers did not complain of torture when they were taken to the Magistrate after the arrest. The allegations were made almost a week after their arrest and confession,” said Range Forest Officer Nibu Kiran. Legal experts also pointed out that it was highly unusual for a police officer to visit an accused in judicial custody at the sub-jail to take down his statement.
According to the investigators, the six poachers were found in the core area of the Nelliampathy forest by a team of eight forest officers early in December 2012. “We had been keeping a vigil after we found cigarette butts and newspapers in the core area a few days earlier,” said Mr. Kiran. Forest officers have recorded the seizure of a dead boar, bear skin, bear meat, animal fat, flashlights and lead pellets from the site.
Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/forest-officials-accused-of-torturing-poachers/article4473847.ece
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| Two persons accused of poaching were arrested by forest officers from inside the Nelliampathy forest range on December 7, 2012. |
The parade was ordered after a proactive police officer met an accused in judicial custody and recorded a statement against the forest officers accusing them of torture.
Officials of the Kollengode forest range insist there were several irregularities in the case.
“The poachers did not complain of torture when they were taken to the Magistrate after the arrest. The allegations were made almost a week after their arrest and confession,” said Range Forest Officer Nibu Kiran. Legal experts also pointed out that it was highly unusual for a police officer to visit an accused in judicial custody at the sub-jail to take down his statement.
According to the investigators, the six poachers were found in the core area of the Nelliampathy forest by a team of eight forest officers early in December 2012. “We had been keeping a vigil after we found cigarette butts and newspapers in the core area a few days earlier,” said Mr. Kiran. Forest officers have recorded the seizure of a dead boar, bear skin, bear meat, animal fat, flashlights and lead pellets from the site.
Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/forest-officials-accused-of-torturing-poachers/article4473847.ece
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