Medak custodial death: Are Bahujans lower than dogs? Telangana BSP asks KCR

Hyderabad: Telangana Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief RS Praveen Kumar on Sunday questioned state chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on the alleged custodial death of Mohammad Khadeer Khan and asked if Bahujans hold lesser value than dogs under his rule.

“KCR garu, you have filed a case against the doctors that your puppy-husky died, but your police are still chasing a poor Bahujan man Khadeer Khan to the point of kidney damage in Medak. Are our poor lives in Telangana worse than your dogs?? #Justice4KhadirKhan,” Praveen Kumar tweeted.

Praveen Kumar was referring to a case in September 2019, where Hyderabad police had charged a veterinary doctor with negligence in the death of Husky, a pet dog at Pragati Bhavan, the official residence of the chief minister. The Hulk breed, a cross between a pit bull terrier and a bulldog, belonged to the 11-month-old dog. Husky allegedly died on September 11 after the veterinarian gave him an injection.

The police registered a case and launched an investigation after receiving a complaint from Asif Ali Khan, who looks after the pet dogs at Pragati Bhavan. The complainant claimed that the dog died as a result of the doctor and the doctor in charge of the private veterinary clinic where the dog was rushed after his condition deteriorated following the injection.

The custodial death case of Muslim man in Medak

In his last video, Mohammad Khadeer, as a ‘dying declaration’, alleged that the Medak police thrashed him for 5 days and they tried to cover it up.

Mohammad Khadeer died at Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad after the Medak police allegedly tortured him causing major injuries that led to his death.

Telangana DGP Anjani Kumar on Saturday directed the Inspector General of Police to supervise the probe of the alleged custodial torture-related death of the 35-year-old labourer who was picked up by Medak police, suspecting his role in a theft case.

In a statement while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Medak, he alleged that he was kept in custody for five days and beaten up by policemen though he kept telling them that he was innocent.

“The cops said the person involved looks like me,” he said.

The police let him off on February 2 when he was unable to move his hands. They (police) asked him to tell others that he was kept in custody for one night. They also asked him to sign a paper and as he was unable to even hold the pen, one of the policemen signed the paper.

Khadeer named the two constables and the Sub-Inspector (SI). He said while the SI only slapped him twice or thrice, the two constables beat him up all over the body.

Due to the alleged torture, Khadeer could not stand on his feet, and his kidneys were also damaged. His wife Siddeshwari, alleged that police used third-degree methods on him. On February 9, he was admitted to a hospital in Medak.

As Khadeer’s condition kept deteriorating, he was referred to Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad for better treatment. However, he succumbed to his injuries on February 17 and is survived by his wife and two children.

The body was handed over to the family members early Saturday morning after autopsy and it was later taken to Medak for last rites.

Qadeer’s death triggered public outrage. Local Muslim community leaders urged Bharat Rastra Samiti (BRS) MLA M. Padma Devender Reddy to take action against the policemen involved.

Subsequently, the MLA spoke with the Medak Superintendent of Police (SP) Rohini Priyadarshini, demanding an investigation into the incident.

The SP transferred SI Rajshekar and the two constables, Pavan and Prashanth.

AIMIM MLA from Hyderabad, Kausar Mohiuddin visited Medak and attended the funeral on Saturday morning. He slammed the police for the restrictions imposed on the funeral and questioned if Qadeer was a “naxalite or terrorist”.

The MLA demanded that the three policemen involved in the case should be booked for murder. He said the FIR should be changed to include the names of the SI and the two constables.

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee President A Revanth Reddy on Sunday demanded the government provide exgratia of fifty lakh rupees to the kin of the deceased.