Gujarat court books four cops for injecting petrol, chilli powder in private parts of three robbery suspects in custody

The three robbery suspects stated they were beaten with a belt on their hands and legs and with a stick wrapped in a cloth on the back.

Surat: A court in Surat registered a criminal case against four policemen after conducting a suo motu inquiry for their prima facie involvement in torturing three men arrested for robbery by injecting petrol and chilli powder in their private parts and beating them up.

The court of the 5th Additional Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Shraddha N Falki, passed an order on March 26 to register a criminal case against the policemen and summon them after conducting a suo motu (on its own) criminal inquiry based on the statements of the three accused.

The court considered the statements of the three accused and a doctor. It also took into account various documents, including medical records, as evidence.

The court observed that prima facie the policemen were found to have committed the crime under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita sections pertaining to voluntarily causing hurt and criminal intimidation.

The three robbery suspects, Saurabh Sharma (19), Rakesh Vagh (22), and Subodh Ramani (23), stated they were beaten with a belt on their hands and legs and with a stick wrapped in a cloth on the back at Sachin police station in Surat.

The policemen, including constables Vanar, Jaypal Sinh, Narayan Sinh, and police van driver Shaitansinh, also threatened to register a GUJCTOC (Gujarat Control Of Terrorism and Organised Crime Act, 2015) case if they filed a complaint in the court.

"They (accused policemen) prima facie appear to have committed an offence crime under BNS sections 115 (2) (causing hurt), 351 (2) (criminal intimidation), and 54 (Abettor is present when the crime had taken place)," the court stated.

The order further stated that the four cops from the Sachin police station beat the three men on their hands, legs and the back portion of their bodies, and injected chilli powder and petrol in their private parts. They threatened them against complaining to the court or else they would be slapped with the GUJCTOC case.

The three victims were arrested for allegedly robbing Gnaneshwar Sapkal of a gold pendant and neck chain worth Rs 89,820 on the night of January 28.

They were booked under sections 309 (4) (robbery), 309(6) (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery) and 54 ( abettor present during the commission of the offence) against Vagh, Ramani and Sharma, and arrested a day later.

After their remand ended on February 1, the trio was produced before the court for further remand, which was rejected.

When asked by the judge, the three accused told the court that four policemen of surveillance staff of Sachin police station had tortured them during their police remand, prompting the judge to initiate a criminal inquiry on a suo motu basis.

In his statement, the doctor said the victims were beaten up by policemen on January 29 around 3:30 pm with belts, and petrol and chilli powder were injected into their private parts.

A Sachin police station official said Rakesh has 14 cases of physical assault and theft against him registered between 2023 and 2025. He was arrested three times under the Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act (PASA).

Subodh also has several causes of physical assault and theft, and PASA was invoked against him in 2024, and Saurabh was arrested in two robbery cases this year.