An investigation has revealed that the police had bungled twice in the case of Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare’s post mortem.
Under the norms stipulated by the criminal procedure code (CrPC), the police taking an injured or dead person to the hospital have to draw a panchnama in presence of the hospital staff, listing all the items found on the body of the victim. Not only this, these items are then to be sealed and referred to the forensic science laboratory, if needed, or kept in safe custody till the trial in the case is over.
The procedure of collecting and sealing must be followed as the items are considered vital pieces of evidence.
A patrol van of Gamdevi police station took the bodies of Karkare and Ashok Kamte to JJ hospital on the intervening night of November 26 and 27, 2008. It was the duty of the officer in charge of the police van to make a panchnama at the hospital stating that he handed over the bodies to the hospital staff. If he had made a panchnama, he would never have missed the bulletproof jacket on Karkare’s body.
“It is unbelievable that any cop would leave the bodies of his seniors unattended, even for a second. When the doctors removed the belongings, the cops present should have made a list of the items,” said a senior serving officer.
The second time they goofed up was when the policemen from Azad Maidan police station supervised the post mortem on November 27, 2008. While they drew their own panchnama, they did not bother to check whether they had listed all the items or not. Had they cross checked the findings with their Gamdevi counterparts, they would have found out about the jacket.
“It is gross criminal negligence on part of both the cops and the hospital staff. As it was a case of murder, the cops should have been more careful while doing the legal documentation,” said MN Singh, former police commissioner.
“The hospital staff is equally to be blamed as they study the medical jurisprudence wherein they know the procedure to hand over all the items found on the body to the investigating cops.”
