The court came to know about the missing evidence when it was hearing the bail plea of Ansar Ahmed. The accused is accused of beating his wife Tahira B with a stick in August 2021, causing injuries to her head, hands and spinal cord. Tahira later died during treatment, after which the police registered a case under IPC sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt).
According to the report, on October 4, Zone 2 DCP Acting Vishwakarma appeared in the court along with Vijay Nagar SHO Chandrakant Patel and answered questions regarding destruction of evidence by rats. The DCP told the court that ‘the bottles in which the viscera were kept were plastic containers, which were damaged by rats during the rainy season’ and due to this ‘histopathological report could not be obtained.’ The official said 28 other samples were also destroyed by rats.
During the hearing, Justice Subodh Abhyankar said that in his view, ‘the police officers concerned should have kept in mind all the relevant factors for the safety of the seized material during the investigation. Although nothing can be done in this matter, at least this incident has brought to light the pathetic condition in which the items/materials collected during investigation are kept in the police stations of the state.
The court said, ‘It is anyone’s guess what would be the condition of police stations located at smaller places, whereas in the present case this police station is one of the busiest police stations of Indore city.’ The High Court directed the State Police Chief to ‘take stock of the Malkhanas of all police stations to ensure that such incidents are avoided in future.’ The DCP told the court that a departmental inquiry has been initiated against the Malkhana in-charge and the SHO for this lapse.
