One in four Indian cops feels mob violence acceptable in certain cases

According to the 'Status of Policing in India Report 2025: Police Torture and (Un)Accountability' by the NGO Common Cause and the Lokniti programme of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), a significant proportion of India's police personnel "justify the use of torture and violence" in the course of their duties.

The report's findings also raise significant concerns regarding the justification of mob violence and extrajudicial killings among police personnel.

The report, released in Wednesday, flags alleged "disregard" for the rule of law by some police personnel and "inadequate compliance" with arrest procedures. Many police personnel also believe they should be allowed to use force without any fear of punishment, the report claimed, with 26 per cent strongly agreeing and 45 per cent somewhat agreeing.

Common Cause and Lokniti-CSDS say 8,276 police personnel across various ranks — constables, upper subordinates (from assistant sub-inspector to deputy superintendent of police), and IPS officers — were surveyed at 82 diverse locations such as police stations, police lines, and courts across 17 states and Union Territories to arrive at the findings.

The study, the NGO claimed, also includes in-depth interviews with doctors, lawyers, and judges whose jobs involve interacting with the police and people in custody.

"The findings of this study indicate that a significant proportion of police personnel justify the use of torture and violence in the course of their duties, and also believe that they should be allowed to use force without any fear of punishment," the NGO claimed.

As per a Newslaundry report, "Interviewees (for the survey) said that the victims of torture are mainly people from poor and marginalised communities. A lawyer described it as 'all the faceless and voiceless' are targeted. The report said Muslims, Dalits, Adivasis, people who cannot read and write, and slum dwellers were common targets of torture."

Newslaundry also quotes the Common Cause-Lokniti (CSDS) report to state that 18 per cent of police personnel feel that "Muslims are 'naturally prone' to committing crimes to a great extent".

Participating in a panel discussion after the release of the report, veteran IPS officer Prakash Singh said all is not well with the police but suggested things need to be seen in perspective.

"Why these excesses by the police? Why is there brutal use of force (by the police)? That needs to be understood," he said. "When you are dealing with hardened criminals you can't be saying 'please come', 'please sit', 'we've met after a long time', 'have tea', 'how are you', 'aapko biryani khila dein' (let's feed you some biryani)."

"You can't be talking like that. Although, yes, this country has a tradition of feeding biryani to a terrorist. You have to be firm. You have to be tough. But where is the borderline and where do you cross it? That's a different matter," he said.

Singh, who was chief of Uttar Pradesh and Assam Police and also the Border Security Force (BSF), said force has to be used in certain situations and police are meant to use force to maintain law and order.

"India is a country where you have all kinds of problems. There is Naxal violence. There is Kashmir you have violence (sic), in the entire North-East you have violence. You have violence everywhere... caste riots, communal riots. How do you deal with them except by using force?" he said. "I am not justifying it (use of force)... I am saying use of force has to be understood in certain circumstances."

Senior advocate Vrinda Grover said the crime of torture exists and even the Supreme Court has recorded it. The state needs to be questioned on this, she said. "Rather than going for police reforms, what we need is accountability of the police for law and order, not toward the political class," Grover said.

Amar Jesani, public health expert and editor of Indian Journal of Medical Ethics, said torture causes mental health issues and also leads to death in custody.

The report said 20 per cent of police personnel feel it is "very important" for the police to use tough methods to create fear among the public, and another 35 per cent think it's "somewhat important". One in four police personnel strongly justifies mob violence in cases of sexual harassment (27 per cent) and child lifting/kidnapping (25 per cent), the report claimed.

Across various categories of crime, constabulary and IPS officers are the most likely to justify mob violence, and upper subordinate officers are the least likely to do so, it said.

Twenty-two per cent police personnel believe that killing "dangerous criminals" is better than giving them a legal trial, the report stated.

On alleged "poor compliance with arrest procedures", the report said overall, 41 per cent of police personnel said arrest procedures are "always" adhered to, while 24 per cent said they are "rarely or never" adhered to.

Only 62 per cent of respondents said an arrested person is "always" released on bail immediately at the police station in bailable offences, while 19 per cent said they are "sometimes" immediately released, the report claimed. Anyone arrested for a bailable offence has a legal right to be released on bail and not kept in custody, it said.

Just a little over half the respondents (56 per cent) said it is "always" feasible/ practical for the police to produce a person before a magistrate within 24 hours of arrest, the synopsis said.

The report claimed, "Thirty per cent of police personnel said that 'third-degree methods' are justified towards the accused in serious criminal cases. Nine per cent said they are justified in petty offences. IPS officers and those respondents who often conduct interrogations are the most likely to justify the use of third-degree methods."

Eleven per cent of police personnel feel hitting/slapping family members of the accused is absolutely justified, and 30 per cent said it is 'sometimes justified', the NGO alleged.

The report claimed discrepancies in the reporting of custodial deaths across various data sources. "For instance, in the year 2020, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reports 76 cases, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) reports 90 cases, while the National Campaign Against Torture (NCAT), a civil society initiative, documents 111 cases of custodial deaths in the same year," it said.

In 2022, as high as 55 per cent of the deaths in police custody reported by NCRB were of persons not on remand, i.e., those in police custody in the first 24 hours of arrest, the report alleged.

With PTI inputs