21 June 2007
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UA-200-2007: INDIA: Two students abducted and disappeared in Andhra Pradesh
INDIA: Disappearance; police atrocities; arbitrary detention; impunity
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Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from its local partner in Andhra Pradesh regarding the case of abduction and disappearance of two students. It is reported that the students were abducted on 5 March 2006 and since then their parents have not heard anything about them. The complaints made by the parents are ignored by the government.
CASE DETAILS:
Mr. Bandaaru Mallesh and Mr. Vadae Manohar were students at the Osmania University. They were arrested by the local police on the suspicion of being involved in the case of murder of Mr. Narsi Reddy. In fact Mallesh and Manohar were surrendered at the police station by their parents. They were detained in police custody for about 8 days without being produced before the court. The parents filed a Habeas Corpus writ for the police produce them in court. Even then the court did not release them on bail. They were however released on bail after four months.
The students were released on bail on 5 March 2006. But the night prior to the release the parents of the disappeared students were called to Muktal Police Station. At the police station they were threatened that they should not take their children out from the police as the police had not finished the investigation of the case. The parents were asked to withdraw the sureties they had organised to be produced in court the next day. The parents however refused, but the police threatened that if the children were released the police would kill them.
The next day, that is 5 March 2007, the students were released on bail from Narayana Pet court. The students with their parents were returning home in a three wheeler. As their vehicle reached the Ashoka movie house at Mahabubnagar, the three-wheeler was stopped by a few armed and masked men. They forced the three-wheeler to go to Christian Palli. In the meanwhile all of them were blindfolded and some of them were transferred into another vehicle. The parents were not aware whether the children were with them.
They traveled for a long time over the night and were let off by the roadside next day, early in the morning. When they removed the blindfold they found themselves to be near a forest. They also realised that their children were missing and not with them. They walked to Devarakonda Mandal in Nalgonda district.
It is alleged that the abduction was organised by the police and it is suspected that the missing students are now either killed as threatened by the police or kept in detention. The parents had approached the High Court seeking help with a petition on which the court has ordered the local police to investigate the case and report the progress of the investigation to the court every month. The parents allege that even after eight months there is no progress in the case.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write a letter to the relevant authorities mentioned below, to ensure that the police investigate the case properly and the whereabouts of the children are revealed to the parents and the court at the earliest. The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances asking for an intervention into this case.
Sample letter:
Dear ___________________
INDIA: Abduction and disappearance of two students in Andhra Pradesh
Name and address of the victims:
1. Mr. Vadae Manohar, son of Thimmanna, resident of Kalvala village, Narya Mandla, Mahabubnagar district, Andhra Pradesh
2. Mr. Bandaaru Mallesh, son of Ms. Anantamma, Maktal Mandal, Mahabubnagar district, Andhra Pradesh
Alleged perpetrators:
1. Police officers stationed at Muktal Police Station, Andhra Pradesh during March 2006
I am writing to you to express my concern about the case of abduction and disappearance of two students of the Osmania University from Mahabubnagar. I am informed that the students, Mr. Vadae Manohar and Mr. Bandaaru Mallesh were surrendered by their parents at the Muktal Police Station by their parents in connection with the investigation into the murder case of Mr. Narsi Reddy.
It is alleged that the students were detained illegally in custody for the next eight days and that their parents had to file a writ petition for the police to produce the students in court. The court though refused bail to the students kept them in custody for about four months. Finally when the court decided to release them the Muktal police threatened their parents that if their children were released on bail they would murder them.
I am informed that the parents did release Manohar and Mallesh from custody through the Narayana Pet court on 5 March 2006. I am also informed that on their way home from the court Manohar and Mallesh along with their parents were stopped at Mahabubnagar by some unidentified armed men and were blindfolded and taken to near a forest. It is alleged that the parents were only set free while the whereabouts of Manohar and Mallesh is not known since then.
I am concerned to know that the parents were threatened by the police the night before their children were released and that their children on their way from the court were kidnapped as threatened by the local police. I am also informed that the parents suspect the Muktal police for the disappearance of their children. I am also informed that the parents had approached the High Court and that the court has asked the local police to report to the court every month the progress of the investigation into the case. I am also informed that the parents are not satisfied with the investigation into the case.
I therefore urge you to intervene into this case so that the conduct of the Muktal police is thoroughly investigated and the whereabouts of the missing children are reported to the court at the earliest.
Sincerely yours,
______________
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy
Chief Minister
'C' Block, 4th Floor, AP Secretariat
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
INDIA
Fax: + 91 40 23452498, 23454828
Email: cmap@ap.nic.in
2. Sri K.Jana Reddy
Minister for Home Affairs
Block-J,Floor-8,Room No-801
AP Secretariat, Hyderabad
Andhra Pradesh
INDIA
Fax: + 91 40 23457687
EMail : min_home@ap.gov.in
3. Special Chief Secretary to Govt.
Department Of Home
A-Block, Floor - 5, AP Secretariat
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
INDIA
Fax: + 91 40 23453170
4. Principal Secretary to the Government of Andhra Pradesh
Department Of Home
A-Block, Floor - 5, Room No-502
AP Secretariat, Hyderabad
Andhra Pradesh
INDIA
Fax: + 91 40 23450175
5. Mr. M.A. Basith, IPS
Office of the Director General and the Inspector General of police
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
INDIA
Fax: + 91 40 23296570
6. The Superintendent of Police
Kakinada, East Godavari District
Andhra Pradesh
INDIA
Fax: +91 884 2363000
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrchk.org)