Channagiri, Karnataka: “My husband was the sole breadwinner. Now, my life means nothing. I don’t know what lies ahead.”
Heena Banu was talking about her husband, Mohammad Adil, a 30-year-old carpenter, who on 24 May 2024, was detained by police in Channagiri, in Karnataka’s Davangere district, on charges of matka gambling, a local form of betting in which players place bets on a particular number from a range of available numbers.
He was never seen alive again.
Matka gambling is a non-cognisable offence, which means the police cannot make an arrest without a warrant or a magistrate’s permission under the Karnataka Police Act, 1963.
There was no such warrant. Yet, as it often happens in India, he was arrested, and his family, unaware of his arrest, only learned of his death in police custody during a post-mortem later that night.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Bengaluru, took over the inquiry into Adil’s death on 25 May 2024, as many media reported.
As of 24 December 2024—over seven months after the death—despite the suspension of two police officers by chief minister Siddaramaiah of the Congress party, the CID inquiry had not been concluded.
This story was originally published in article-14.com. Read the full story here.