For getting a tree trimmed in his backyard
For getting a tree trimmed in his backyard Target practice? Kapil Kurichh suffered a fracture in his left hand apart from other wounds.
He has been left with a permanent hearing impairment, a fracture in his left hand, multiple wounds on his legs,u00a0
ribs and hips. All for getting a tree trimmed in his backyard. 
The Jagatpuri police in northeast Delhi allegedly wanted their share of the axed tree for which they picked up Kapil Kurichh, 40, and purportedly framed him under the false charges of felling a tree. And what followed was the Radheypuri resident's welfare association president's worst nightmare.
Kurichh, along with his brother Ajay, were picked up allegedly at the behest of Rajesh Kumar, station house officer of the Jagatpuri police station, on March 21. "We were targeted because we squarely declined to pay a bribe to Rajesh Kumar's men," alleged Kurichh. He claimed that two months after the cops subjected him to physical and mental torture and despite a High Court direction all that the police had done is just order an inquiry.
"The inquiry has been on for the past one month and they are yet to come up with anything concrete," he said, showing his hand, which has now healed after a metallic plate was inserted through surgery to support the broken bone.
Recalling the incident, Kurichh told MiD DAY that there was a big banyan tree in front of his house in Radheypuri, near Jagatpuri. "It became so big that the branches had started entering our house and almost enveloped it, blocking air and sunlight. We went to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi's horticulture department to get the permission for cutting the tree. After numerous visits to the department we finally got the nod and hired a labourer to cut the tree, leaving the trunk so that it can regenerate."
The 40-year-old businessman claimed that soon policemen stated visiting his house to demand bribe, as he had felled the tree "illegally." "I told them that I had taken due permission from the MCD and will not give them even a penny," Kurichh claimed.
According to him, he and his brother were picked up and brutally beaten in the lock up. "Rajesh Kumar hit my hand with the wooden hand rest of a chair and then thrashed me with a stick all over. They slapped me continuously so much so that I couldn't hear what they were saying any more."
Kurichh claimed the cops took them for a medical examination at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital and got a false certificate made. "The medico-legal certificate did not mention other wounds except the fracture in my hand."
The two brothers were produced before a magistrate in the Karkardooma court the next day that sent them to seven days' judicial custody. However, when they were taken to jail, the staff refused to admit them saying they had more injuries than what their medical certificates mentioned.
They were again produced before the court the same day and the magistrate, taking note of the discrepancies in the medical examination, ordered another check up. He also censured the cops, ordering them not to be involved in the case any more.
"The second MLC at Hedgewar Hospital in Karkardooma nailed police lies," Kurichh claimed. We got the bail and prayed to the court to give us justice, he said.
Kurichh and his brother took up their case at the Delhi High Court, which on May 18 ordered an inquiry by the police. Acting on the High Court order, the Delhi police instituted an inquiry by the District Investigation Unit (DIU) of the area.
"I am yet to come to terms with the horror I have been through. My family also went through immense mental trauma. I hope the DIU will wrap up the inquiry soon," Ajay said.
The Other Side
The DIU is investigating the case. Once it submits its report, we will be able to fix the responsibility.
-u00a0A senior police officer
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