Hyderabad: Polythene bag instead of cloth

Hyderabad, July 08: Hyderabad: For covering the face of a woman accused with a black polythene bag which did not have any extension for oxygenating, the Sultan Bazaar police has come on the hit list.

The woman, accused of kidnapping a baby from the Koti Maternity Hospital after her arrest was being taken for a medical check-up from the station. In order to protect her identity, instead of covering her face with any cloth, the Police used black cover.

When this was asked to the Sultan Bazaar station house officer, he replied:

"Following Supreme Court guidelines, the accused was kept away from the media. While she was being taken for a medical check-up, the team was surrounded by 20-30 photographers who were trying to click her snaps."

Adding, he stated the distance from the police station to the vehicle was about 10 meters. The police used the only available property(the polythene bag) to cover her face. It was detached when she entered the vehicle.

East Zone DCP - P. Ramesh braked the station house officer and the Assistant Commissioner of police for negligence. In a post on his Twitter handle, Mr Ramesh said:

"My apologies! @shosulthanbazar @acpsultanbazar, this is simply not acceptable. She could have choked due to suffocation. Never to be repeated, please. "

"The police is supposed to be well-equipped. During an encounter, they carry arms and material to conceal their identity. While nabbing the accused, they must be ready with material to protect the facial identification. It is a case of negligence of the police officials," said Mr K. Ananthnag, Telangana state chairman for the Human Rights Council of India.

ACP, Sultan Bazaar, Dr. M. Chetana has ordered a scrutiny to check why a piece of cloth (or) any other means was not used to mask the face of accused.