Bihar Police, Digital Evidence: What we know about Bhojpur youth Bharat Bhushan Tiwari’s death. The death of 26-year-old Bharat Bhushan Tiwari of Bilauti village of Bihar’s Bhojpur district has escalated from a local altercation to a state-level legal and political showdown. An armed man who briefly live-streamed his protest against administration’s “indifferent attitude towards flood and drought victims,” against administrative lethargy in tackling perennial flood and erosion problem, and even against his ‘fake’ imprisonment “for demanding justice” shot on Tuesday night, succumbed.
While the police claim he fired upon them and was forced to retaliate, a family dispute also emerged as a major reason for the controversy, the video clips posted online claim the contrary, showing the man lying on the ground bleeding as officials look on and his family says that this amounts to the murder.
The Indian Express looks at how the story unfolded:
The Bhojpur Standoff: The narrative divergence The controversial incident took place on June 16-17. Tiwari engaged in a tense face-off with local police and the STF. Using a firearm as security he streamed parts of the interaction on Facebook and shared other video clips showing his confrontation with the officials over issues he cited included flood management and rural employment.
The police say he was “mentally ill” Tiwari engaged in armed confrontations with law enforcers during their attempts to disarm him.
They said Tiwari shot at the STF repeatedly. “This caused an opportunity to the STF personnel for self-defense where they fired on Tiwari,” a police statement claimed. The youth died of wounds later at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH). However, villagers and Tiwari’s family accuse police of a “fake encounter”, claiming that purported videos showed him throwing away his weapon and offering to surrender.
Tiwari’s family called him a social activist.
He was vocal on issues of riverbank erosion and floods in their region.
Justice Under Supreme Court Scan The rapid rise of Tiwari’s videos across the country and the family’s allegations have now drawn the attention of the Supreme Court. A letter petition has been sent to the Chief Justice seeking suo motu cognisance in the matter. Lawyers are also seeking registration of a murder case under Section 103 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against police officers.
They further want a fair investigation by an independent agency, either the CBI or an SIT, for the investigation.
Following intense pressure and evidence from the video clips that may show slow response by law enforcers during the incident leading to injuries of a civilian that were reported late, four police officers, including local SHO, were suspended by the Bihar Police for dereliction of duty. The Bihar government meanwhile, has said it would order an independent judicial inquiry by a retired High Court judge to ensure proper investigation of all the angles of the Bhojpur incident. The probe will look into the STF’s conduct, as well as the video footage, including the one uploaded by the deceased, and investigate whether the police act was a legitimate self-defence or an extra-judicial killing.
