Media Release

New Delhi, Oct 6 :- Prof. Bhim Singh, Chairman, National Panthers Party in a letter addressed to the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, has urged the Prime Minister for his urgent and affective intervention to ensure delivery of justice to the family members of Yusuf Haji in Kashmir so that the real culprits may be brought to justice.

Prof. Bhim Singh has also urged the Prime Minister to use his good offices so that the circumstances that led to the murder of Yusuf Haji is handed over to the CBI to ensure independent and impartial investigation in the matter.

Prof. Bhim Singh said that the Chief Minister holding home portfolio in J&K and all other top brass in the police hierarchy have come out with their biased opinion supporting the Chief Minister, therefore, the CBI inquiry is solicited in the interest of justice. He has urged the Prime Minister the present Chief Minister needs to be removed without delay and FIR registered. The letter is produced as under;

"I am taking this liberty to writing to Your Excellency on the situation in J&K that has been triggered following ‘mysterious’ death of a ruling party office bearer namely, Yusuf Haji, in custody. With full sense of responsibility I would like to urge Your Excellency to persuade the Chief Minister of J&K to go for CBI probe into the circumstances which led to the death of 61-year-old NC office bearer on 29th September, 2011.

Without going to the merit of the case I would like to convey to Your Excellency a brief sketch of events before Mr. Yusuf Haji died in custody in Srinagar.

1. That the Chief Minister admits that he has called Mr. Yusuf Haji and two other NC workers namely, Mr. Salam Rishi and Mr. Yusuf Bhat to his residence on 29th September in the evening to sort out the issues raised by the NC workers in question.

2. The two complainants mentioned above and Yusuf Haji (deceased) remained in close conference with the Chief Minister at his residence.

3. At 10.00 p.m. on 29th September, 2011 itself, a senior police officer disclosed as IG Crime Branch was summoned by the Chief Minister to his residence who took away Yusuf Haji (deceased) with him. While Yusuf Haji was stepping out of the Chief Minister’s residence he was seen vomiting blood.

4. Yusuf Haji (deceased) was taken out to the police station instead of hospital. From the police station he was mysteriously whisked away to an unknown place which has been identified by the Principal Secretary (Home) and Director General of Police as police hospital. The suspicious is natural about the mysterious death of Yusuf Haji. Why he was shifted to police hospital and not to a civil hospital? Was he dead the time he was allegedly taken to the police hospital?

5. When Yusuf Haji (deceased) was vomiting blood in the presence of the Chief Minister, why he was not taken to a civil hospital in the close vicinity? It was 10.00 p.m.

6. How the mobile telephones, two of them, got shut and SIMS replaced?

7. When a person died in such ‘mysterious’ circumstances, why FIR has not been registered?

8. On the one hand the Chief Minister declared to constitute so-called Judicial Commission in this matter and on the other the Chief Minister justified all measures taken by him and the police.

9. It is highly shocking that the Principal Secretary (Home), the Director General of Police and the IG Crime Branch addressed a press conference tried to justify the police inaction in registering even an FIR in this matter. The Principal Secretary (Home),

"The Board of Doctors which was constituted to perform the post-mortem has also ‘certified’ in their report that no external injuries were found on the body of the deceased. X-ray of the dead body shows no abnormality and the timing of the death in the report has been shown as less than 12 hours prior to the completion of the most-mortem and handing over of the dead body on September 30."

10. The Director General of Police addressing the same press conference with Principal Secretary (Home) refused to register an FIR justifying he said, "The registration of FIR into the death of Yusuf is a subject matter of investigation. As investigation will proceed further action will be taken as per the revelation that will come to fore and if necessary further sections will be added, the DGP responded to a query on whether an FIR will be registered into the death."

11. That the government of J&K has violated the mandatory provisions provided in the Basu’s Judgment by the Supreme Court of India vis-à-vis information to Yusuf’s nearest family members when he was taken to custody.

12. That the Chief Minister of J&K has been named by his own party worker as one of the beneficiaries who was paid money by his own workers. Besides, the Chief Minister is an interested party and has taken side with the police on the circumstances that led to the custodial death of Yusuf Haji.

13. That the High Court Chief Justice has already refused to spare a sitting Judge of the High Court for the so-called judicial commission. However, High Court Judge could not have conducted the so-called judicial commission because the High Court is the court of appeal against a Sessions Court which is the only trial court in case of murder or death etc.

14. It is obvious that no police officer junior to Director General of Police or no official junior to Principal Secretary (Home) can hold free and impartial inquiry in the presence of present DGP and the Home Secretary who have taken a clear side in support of the Chief Minister. It is in the interest of justice and equity that this matter be referred to CBI for independent probe as the J&K police can no longer be trusted with this task.

May I request the Hon’ble Prime Minister, to take urgent and appropriate action in this regard so that the faith of a common man in democracy and in the judiciary is not lost. It is only an outside agency namely, CBI, which should probe into the circumstances that led to the mysterious death of Yusuf Haji. In the meantime, the Governor of J&K should remove the Chief Minister and other interested officers so that a free and independent probe could be held which is soul of democracy and needed most in a sensitive state like J&K. The Chief Minister has become a security threat and has lost confidence of the people."