In the span of a week, two cases of custodial deaths have been reported from various parts of the state. On 29 September, one Lutfur Husen Barbhuiya allegedly killed himself while in custody in the Jully jail, Itanagar. In the second case, a person identified as Mibom Pertin reportedly committed suicide in the lockup of the Roing police station in Lower Dibang Valley district. In both the cases, the families have expressed doubt over the circumstances of the deaths. The police should conduct a free and fair investigation, so that the doubts of the families are cleared.
The Arunachal Pradesh Police is known to act professionally while dealing with criminals. Unlike other states, where police are accused of extrajudicial killing, torture, ill-treatment, etc, the state’s police have managed to keep a clean record, barring a few cases. Allegations of torture and extrajudicial killings are very rare. Therefore, these two cases of custodial deaths have raised a serious question mark over the integrity of the state police. Now the onus lies with them to clear the doubts of the people. If the APP wants the people of the state to trust them, they should conduct a fair probe and punish the officials due to whose negligence the incidents took place. Only if concrete action is taken, the people will repose faith in them.