He is in jail on charges of having Maoist links

Hem Mishra, a student of the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi, who was arrested by the Maharashtra police last year for alleged Maoist links, has accused the police of “inhumanly torturing” him in custody.

“During the days of my police custody, I was cooped in a filthy and stinking lock-up. I was given food just enough to keep me alive. For the first 10 days I was neither allowed to bathe, nor brush my teeth. Every kind of custodial violence was inflicted on me during the first three days. Bajirao [a kind of baton which inflicts maximum hurt, while it does not leave wound marks] was used to hit me, especially on the soles of my feet. I was also kicked and punched till my whole body was numb. In these ways, I was beaten up every day to the point of unconsciousness, and yet in those three days, I was never for a second given a chance to sleep,” Mr. Mishra has claimed in a letter written from his high security cell in Nagpur jail.

According to him, a large number of youngsters from the tribal community were also subjected to inhuman and brutal torture in police custody, which lasts for months.

Mr. Mishra appealed to everyone to speak out for the release of thousands of tribals, Dalits, women, workers, peasants and activists “mercilessly” incarcerated in various jails of the country.

On August 20 this year, Mr. Mishra, a student of B.A. (Chinese), completed one year of confinement. However, he has termed his arrest by the Maharashtra police as “broad daylight abduction.”

He claimed that he was “abducted” when he was on his way to Bhamargad town in Gadchiroli to meet Dr. Prakash Amte, who works to provide health facilities to tribals.

“Police teams from Gadchiroli abducted me from the Ballarshah railway station in Chandrapur district in August last year. They also forced two tribal youths from Gadchiroli to testify against me,” alleged Mr. Mishra who has been booked under several clauses of UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) and has been imprisoned in the High Security Cell (called Anda Cell) of the Nagpur jail in extreme segregation.

Mr. Mishra also accused the police of misusing his Gmail and Facebook accounts.