[Reader-list] Fwd: Arbitrary arrests and third degree torure of Maruti workers in the name investigation in to alleged murder of its HR Manager

[Nagraj Adve]

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*PEOPLE’S UNION FOR DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS*

26 September 2012****

*Press Release *

Based upon its preliminary investigation, PUDR asserts that instead of a
thorough investigation into the alleged murder of Awanish Dev, Manager,
Maruti Suzuki Ltd’s Manesar plant on 18 July 2012, the Haryana police have
been responsible for arbitrary arrests of workers, illegal detention and
harassment of their family members as well as custodial violence. Our
findings reveal how miscarriage of justice has occurred and continues at
many levels:****

***1.      ****Identifying Suspects*****

**·         **A large number of the over 145 arrests of workers that have
been made in the case are unrelated to the crimes in the FIR.  There have
been different rounds of arrests. The first 93 arrests for instance took
place at random on 18-19 July and included workers not even present at the
factory site. ****

**·         **Subsequently, apart from union office bearers arrested, many
coordinators nominated for routine union work were arrested. Many of the
workers who have been arrested are those who were also active in the 2011
protests.****

**·         **Testimonies reveal that the basis of arrests is a list of
names provided by the Company, of workers who were articulate or otherwise
active in the union. For example, one worker picked up on 6 August was at
his residence since he had no reason to fear arrest.  Six policemen came in
the middle of the night in civilian clothes from the Gurgaon CIA and
arrested him. They told the family that the Company had given his name to
the police. Yet another worker who had worked in Shift A ending at 3pm on
18 July reached his village at 7 pm. Ten days later, the CIA staff came to
arrest him stating that the Company had given his name and he had to
present himself at the police station.  When he did so, he was arrested and
remanded to judicial custody. His family members were not informed. On 17
August, the SHO Manesar PS. admitted in open court that the names of
several workers being arrested is based on a list provided to the police by
the Company.****

**·         **A number of workers, including at least one union member and
25 contract workers, who are in jail, were on leave on 18 July. The Company
has been refusing to submit attendance records, claiming that they were
destroyed. ****

**·         **The use of hired bouncers to create fear and intimidation in
a situation that began as a routine conflict between a worker and a
supervisor is shocking. Many were in the Maruti uniform without the badge.
An entire list of those involved in the crime is therefore yet to emerge
clearly.****

**·         **Even before investigations are complete, 546 workers have
been terminated by the Company. A standard covering letter accompanied by a
“Speaking Order” has been issued by the Director and MEO (Production)
accusing the worker of being involved in events that led to the death of
Awanish Dev and engaged in “nefarious activities and gross misconduct”. The
letter states that the Company has “lost confidence” in the worker. The
Company has thus pre-judged and taken action against these workers by
terminating them. Allegations and action of this kind by the Company
heighten the vulnerability of workers since the original FIR is made
against “500 to 600” unnamed accused.****

**·         **There is at least one instance of a worker who was arrested
because his first name was the same as that of a more active union member.
Despite clarification by relatives of the union member, and the later
arrest of the union member both workers are in jail. ****

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***2.      ****Family Members Harassed*

**·         **Harassment, illegal detention and intimidation of family
members of the named accused have taken place, especially before the
‘surrender’ of the union members, itself represented by the police as their
‘arrest’ from Hansi on 1 August. ****

**·         **Testimonies have borne this out amply. The father, brother
and brother-in-law of one of the office-bearers of MSUWU, were picked up
for interrogation and illegally detained for days in the Sector 10 CIA
police lock-up in Gurgaon. Relatives were other office bearers were also
detained for over 24 hours, without any official entries being made. The
father-in-law of another union leader was taken for interrogation three
times by the police, despite his repeated statements that he did not know
his son-in-law’s whereabouts. The worker’s wife and two small children were
prevented from being taken away by the police by the intervention of
villagers, on the grounds that no policewomen were present. ****

**·         **Several families of arrested workers were not informed of
their arrest by the police. A worker’s mother stated she was informed of
her son’s arrest only 10-12 days later by anonymous phone call. Some were
informed by neighbours and friends. In several of the arrests the police
came in plainclothes without any visible name-tag or rank. ****

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***3.      ****Torture of Workers in Custody***

**·         **Several arrested workers have faced severe beating and
torture in police custody. On 2 August, 2 of the 12 accused union leaders
who were presented in Gurgaon court were seen to be limping due to injuries
sustained during police interrogation. The mandatory ‘medical examination’
that the police claim was conducted seems utterly dubious. ****

**·         **Another medical examination of accused in custody (under
Section 54 CrPC) was finally carried out on 21 September. The examination
reveals how workers are still suffering from the effects and pain trauma
due to physical torture meted out in police custody over a month and half
earlier. The medico-legal reports, now with the defense counsel, record the
statements of brutal, humiliating torture that they were subjected to by
the Gurgaon CIA. Workers have confirmed in the MLRs that they were stripped
naked and beaten, and injured in the groin as their legs were stretched
apart on both sides ‘beyond capacity’ for sustained periods of time. Some
were submerged in dirty water for long duration, and rollers run over the
thighs of others. The defense counsel had applied for a proper medical
examination much earlier, and the same was permitted by the court. However
the police caused significant and deliberate delay even after court
permission was granted, causing marks and evidence of torture to be reduced.
****

**·         **Workers who were tortured as well as a large number of
arrested have been made to sign on blank sheets of paper. They and their
families fear that these will be misused to prove their participation in
the crime. ****

*Conclusion and Demands*

Firstly, public outrage at the 18 July incidents at Maruti Suzuki India
Ltd.’s Manesar plant stemmed from the killing of an HR manager and violent
attack allegedly by an uncontrollable mob of workers. However, the police
investigation into such a serious incident does not seem to be directed at
solving the crime. Instead, it aims to ‘identify’ workers based not on
their connection to the incidents and crimes recorded in the FIR but on
their involvement in the union or overall assertiveness. The use of third
degree torture in police custody, and the securing of arrestees’ signatures
on blank papers by the police, gives rise to grave doubts regarding the
ability of such an investigation in effectively identifying or arresting
those guilty. The police and state seem keener to reassure Maruti Suzuki
Ltd. and ensure that production continues. The trajectory of the
investigation into the incident of 18 July exposes how it too is geared
towards this end, and not at identifying the real accused or ensuring that
justice is done. ****

Secondly, severe violations of rights of the accused and arrestees
characterize this police investigation. The guidelines in the DK Basu vs.
State of West Bengal judgment (1996) and laws and conventions against
custodial violence and torture have been consistently violated by the
police in several instances. ****

Therefore, PUDR demands that:****

**·         **An independent and unbiased judicial enquiry be initiated
into the events that led to the death of Awanish Dev. The judge nominated
should be someone both parties are agreeable to. ****

**·         **The police investigation should not be carried out by police
officers who were involved and present during the incident as being done at
present. An SIT be made comprising police drawn from other states (apart
from Haryana, Delhi and Punjab) to investigate the incident of 18 July. ****

**·         **The role of several hired bouncers that led to the
precipitation of the events at the spot be investigated and a list made
available. ****

**·         **The Haryana police, responsible for custodial torture of
arrestees, be identified and criminally prosecuted. Those responsible for
harassment, illegal detention of family members of workers, and violations
of legal guidelines of arrest must be identified and prosecuted. ****

**·         **The safety and security of workers within the Manesar plant
that reopened on 22 August with heavy deployment of security forces be
ensured. The rights of workers at the plant, guaranteed in law and as
Indian citizens, be maintained stringently.  ****

**·         **Re-instatement of all workers be ensured in the absence of
definite evidence of their involvement emerges. ****

**·         **The safety of family members of workers across Haryana be
ensured.****

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Preeti Chauhan****

Paramjeet Singh****

Secretaries PUDR****

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