PUCL Bihar Claims Bharat Tiwari’s Police Encounter Was A ‘Planned Killing’, Demands Independent Agency Probe

Patna: People`s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) , Bihar has alleged that the death of youth, Bharat Bhushan Tiwari, in the controversial Bhojpur police encounter was a planned killing and demanded an investigation by an independent agency, not connected to the police stations involved in the incident. 

Bharat had been actively raising the grievances of families displaced by Ganga erosion from Jobinia village and had previously clashed with local police and administrative officials over alleged irregularities in development funds.

PUCL sent a fact-finding team to Bilauti village under Shahpur village in Bhojpur district where the controversial police encounter taking place. The fact-finding team was headed by Kishori Das (former general secretary and vice president, and presently a member of state executive committee, Umesh Kumar Singh (life Member, PUCL Bihar, Sitamarhi) and Jalandhar Yaduvanshi (member, PUCL Bihar).

The team visited Bilauti village under Shahpur police station limits in Bhojpur district, where the police encounter took place on June 17. The team visited Bilauti village on June 25-26, questioned family members, eyewitnesses, displaced families, and government officials, and examined all related FIRs, the post-mortem report, and viral video evidence.
Bihar government has constituted a judicial commission under retired Patna High Court Judge under retired Patna High Court Judge, Justice Vinod Kumar Singh, to probe the encounter. The judicial commission is presently conducting hearings and recording testimonies, and has not yet submitted its final report.

According to the PUCL report, Bharat’s father, Kashinath Tiwari (70, retired police official) stated that on June 16, 20–25 police personnel came to his house without explanation and asked him to report to Shahpur police station the next morning. When he and other family members went there the next morning (the day of the encounter), they were taken into custody. Bharat fell to the bullets of the police even though records showed only one prior case against him (Shahpur PS, case number 73/25) arising from a scuffle during a land-dispute inquiry which does not indicate a criminal history.

According to eyewitnesses among the displaced families, Bharat was surrounded by 40-50 armed police, shot, dragged and taken away. He was seen smiling and waving from the police vehicle as he was driven off.
PUCL state executive committee member Das said that two police FIRs (nos. 169/26 and 170/26), filed by the same SHO hours apart, contain inconsistencies in the sequence of events; a separate FIR filed by Tiwari's mother states he had already surrendered and thrown down his weapon before being shot.

The seizure list records only two empty cartridge cases from the site, contradicting the police claim that Tiwari fired 10-12 rounds, Das added. The post-mortem recorded five bullet wounds (legs, thigh, and scrotum). The delay in transporting him to a properly equipped hospital raises serious questions about whether his death could have been prevented, the report added.

 The Special Task Force (STF)- normally deployed against organised crime and terrorism-was used against an unarmed local activist with no serious criminal record, reportedlyafter a public statement bythe Chief Minister hours earlierendorsing tough action against persons challenging the police, he added.

Besides asking government to order an investigation by an  independent agency, PUCL representative demanded immediate arrest of all accused named in the FIR filed by Bharat`s mother in line with the Supreme Court's directions in PUCL vs. State of Maharashtra(2014), cancellation of the posting of DSP Rajesh Sharma, a named accused, pending a fair inquiry. Other demands include proper rehabilitation of the displaced Jobinia families on safe, habitable land, in line with government norms, constitution of police complaints authorities at the district and state level, as directed by the Supreme Court (2006) and an independent judicial inquiry, by a judge holding no post-retirement government position, into all police encounters during the current chief minister's tenure.