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Ziauddin, 36, of Ambedkar Nagar, died from injuries he allegedly sustained as a result of torture while in police custody.

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The National Human Rights Commission has ordered the Uttar Pradesh government to compensate the family of a man who died after being taken into police custody in 2021, directing a payment of Rs 10 lakh, The Indian Express reported on Friday.

In its decision, the commission criticised state police for failing to account for injuries suffered by 36-year-old Ziauddin of Ambedkar Nagar and for “deliberately concealing facts”.

According to the order, there was “no doubt” police had brought him to the station, yet officers were unable to explain the eight injury marks recorded during the post-mortem.

The order noted the report was silent on “how and when the deceased would have sustained” those wounds and found “no justification about the nature of injuries while he was in custody of the police.”

The panel rejected the state government’s response to an earlier show-cause notice and upheld its conclusion that the death occurred in custody. With no contrary evidence submitted, the commission said it could not conclude “that the death of the deceased did not occur while in the police custody”.

Case details

Ziauddin was detained on March 25, 2021, by a team led by Sub-Inspector Devendra Pal while he was travelling to a relative’s home, according to a complaint filed by his brother Shahabuddin and cited by the newspaper. The family was informed of his death only hours later, and Shahabuddin alleged that neither a medical examination nor a post-mortem was conducted initially.

Police later said Ziauddin had been taken in for questioning after call records linked him to a suspect in an attempted murder case. They claimed his health worsened en route to the station and that he was moved to a hospital, where he died at 1.45 a.m. on March 26.

The autopsy documented abrasions and contusions on his arms, legs and buttocks, listing the cause of death as “hypoxia and shock due to antemortem lung injury with multiple blunt injuries”.

An initial police case was filed accusing Pal and a constable of murder and kidnapping with intent to murder. But in May 2022, investigators submitted a final report asserting there was no evidence of torture and that Ziauddin was “not in police custody” when he died.

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