With two fresh custodial deaths being reported in the past few days, the Tamil Nadu Police has issued a detailed Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) to its personnel on ways to deal with those arrested for various crimes and how to treat them in custody.
The SOP, issued by the office of the Director General of Police (DGP) says police personnel should be sensitised against use of force, and the team which makes the arrest should be clear whether they want to remand the alleged accused to judicial custody or take him on station bail.
“The Station Duty Officer (SDO) should give a target time for remand when the accused or suspect is brought to the police station and ensure strict compliance. The concerned IO shall involve himself thoroughly in paperwork to speed up remand rather than leaving everything on Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS) Police,” the SOP said.
The SoP came after two incidents of custodial deaths were reported in as many days.
If the accused is kept in night custody for interrogation, police personnel should ensure they have sufficient material in hand for interrogation and they should rely on scientific interrogation techniques instead of using force to extract confession, the SOP added.
While asking the personnel not to exert “undue pressure” on the accused for recovery of property, the SOP said if an accused or suspect is involved in cases of assault on police, he should not be kept in the same police station or the SDO should be present in the station till accused is remanded.
To prevent allegations of death while in custody due to health issues, the SOP said the personnel should not just ask the accused about his health and medication status before arrest but also subject him to a thorough medical check-up.
“Accused badly addicted to alcohol, drugs etc. shouldn’t be remanded since they develop withdrawal symptoms in jail due to non-availability of drugs/may cause death. Ensure CCTV is installed and is in working condition in the PS, hospitals, jails to counter any false allegation of police torture,” the SOP said, adding that the accused should be thoroughly verified for the history of epilepsy/fits.
To avoid suicide of accused inside police stations, the SOP asks the personnel to “conduct a proper assessment of mental status of the accused/suspect” and keep up the lock-up area completely free from suicide assisting environment like ceiling fan, cleaning materials in toilet like Harpic or acid, and sharp objects.
The SOP also asked police personnel not to arrest women between dusk to dawn and strictly following DK Basu judgment guidelines, like presence of women police officers during arrest and till remand.