Seven gamblers blinded by Rajkot police; NHRC demands inquiry into incident

The National Human Rights Commission has sought a report from the Gujarat government on the alleged blinding of undertrials in Rajkot district.

Taking cognisance of press reports that seven people accused of minor offences lost their eyesight after the police allegedly applied Tiger Balm on their eyes in order to extract a confession, the Commission asked the state government to submit the report within a fortnight.

The NHRC sent fax messages to the state chief secretary and the director general of police on Thursday morning, sources said.

All the victims have been admitted to the G T Shet Eye Hospital in Rajkot with severe eye damage.

The accused were reportedly rounded up by the police on February 10 from the Bhagwatipara area in the district on charges of gambling.

The torture of the undertrials came to light after a doctor treating the accused wrote to the local police officer, requesting him to stop this 'cruel, inhuman and bizarre practice.'

The victims were allegedly thrashed mercilessly by the police before Tiger Balm was applied on their eyes. They were released the next day with swollen eyes and blurred vision.

The victims alleged that the police did not even allow them first-aid when their eyes got swollen.

Rajkot Police Commissioner P L Jani has ordered a departmental probe into the incident. The inquiry has been entrusted to an assistant commissioner of police, S B Patel.

"I am totally against the third degree," Jani said, adding that policemen involved in the incident would be dealt according to the law.

Only after the victims underwent treatment, government eye hospital sources said, would it be known if their eyesight was permanently impaired.