BENGALURU, 15 APRIL

The Karnataka High Court has instructed the State government to carry out a post-mortem examination on Ritesh Kumar, a migrant labourer from Bihar, who was allegedly shot dead by police during an encounter in Hubballi on 13 April. Kumar was implicated in the murder of a five-year-old girl, with police claiming he was killed while attempting to escape custody.

A division bench, led by Chief Justice NV Anjaria and Justice KV Aravind, issued the directive during a hearing of a petition filed by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Karnataka. The Court stressed the importance of adhering to the Supreme Court’s established guidelines on police-related deaths.

The bench specified that the post-mortem must be conducted by two medical professionals at a local hospital, ensuring that the entire procedure is videographed and that samples from the body are preserved for any future investigations.

Senior advocate Aditya Sondhi, representing PUCL, communicated to the Court his intent to secure compliance with necessary guidelines, highlighting concerns about the potential premature cremation of the body. Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty assured the Court that an FIR had already been registered and that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was looking into the matter, reiterating that there were no plans for cremation; rather, burial would occur after proper identification.