Dawood's aide alleges torture by cops

Mumbai, Feb 11 (UNI) Brijesh Singh alias Bhiru, a TADA accused, today filed an application in the court alleging that the police is torturing and forcing him to make a confession.

Singh, a close aide of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, is an accused in the 1992 JJ Hospital shootout case.

He told the court that police is torturing him mentally and physically in order to force a confessional statement in the case.

While trying to have a confessional statement from him, the police officers have allegedly told him that they are ''experts in custodial deaths'', Singh has stated in his petition.

TADA court judge D U Mulla has directed the Government to file a reply on the petition returnable on February 21.

Singh was arrested by the Delhi police on January 23, this year in an extortion case. After completion of the remand, the city police, headed by Assistant Commissioner of Police Ashok Duraphe, had brought him to the city for his alleged involvement in the JJ Hospital Shootout Case.

Meanhile, Judge Mulla has remanded Singh in police custody till February 21.

On September 12, 1992, Shailesh Haldankar of the Gawli gang, who was undergoing treatment in Ward 18 of the JJ Hospital, was shot dead with an AK-47 rifle. The police had recovered around 500 empty cartridges from the spot.

Police had initially booked 31 people in the case. The TADA court has already convicted three people namely Subhash Singh Thakur, Surya Rao and Shyamkumar Garikar. Thakur was awarded the death penalty, but later it was commuted to a life sentence till death by the Supreme Court. Surya Rao was sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment and Garikar was sentenced to 10 years RI.

UNI ST MAZ AE KN1854