E/CN.4/1995/34 page 62 himself and Sherpal and the possible murder of Sherpal, the Supreme Court ordered that Sherpal be produced. Sherpal was produced in the Court on 18 May 1994, the station house officers concerned were found prima facie to be guilty of offences under sections 344 and 300 of the Indian Penal Code, and orders were issued for prosecution and departmental action against them. The Deputy Superintendent of Police was found guilty of lack of supervision and was censured. 327. Udayan, from Kalladikode village, Palakkad district, Kerala, was arrested on 19 January 1994 and taken to Mannarghat police station. He reportedly told his brothers who visited him the following morning that he had been severely tortured. When the brothers returned three hours later to the station, they were told that he had hanged himself using his lungi. Kerala civil liberties organizations investigating the incident determined that it would have been impossible under the circumstances for Udayan to have hanged himself. 328. Pochamma, a tribal girl from Mehangar village, Andhra Pradesh, was allegedly slapped in the face by police and taken into custody in Pochampally, Nalgonda district, on 13 September 1993. She died in hospital on 17 September 1993, reportedly as a result of police torture in detention. The Government informed the Special Rapporteur that an inquiry was in progress. 329. Khader Baba died in police custody in Khaman district, Andhra Pradesh, on 17 September 1993. His body was said to have been riddled with marks indicating severe injury and two of his ribs were fractured. The Government stated that a judicial inquiry was in progress and that the concerned sub-inspector of police and police constable had been suspended pending the outcome. 330. The Special Rapporteur also informed the Government of reports he had received indicating that the risk of torture to those taken into the custody of police or security forces appeared particularly grave for persons detained for political reasons. The authorities were said to use torture techniques to extract information or to facilitate counter-insurgency operations, particularly in the regions of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. Another alleged goal of such techniques was to discourage the population from supporting opposition political groups. 331. Kanwar Singh Dhami, a leader of the Sikh separatist organization AKAL, speaking on 29 March 1994 at a press conference in Chandigarh, Punjab, arranged by the Director of Police to allow him publicly to surrender, alleged that he, his pregnant wife Kuldip Kaur, and their six-year-old son were held in illegal and unacknowledged detention for 10 months and tortured in each other’s presence. Limping at the press conference, he was said to have alleged that the authorities had threatened to kill his family and expressed fears that they would do so. 332. Noodin Chaudry, from Jumagandh village, Kupwara, was arrested at his home on 6 February 1993 by soldiers belonging to the Madras 25th regiment. He was detained for six days, during which time he allegedly was severely beaten and deprived of food.