New Delhi: The Jharkhand Police have registered a first information report (FIR) against eight security personnel, including a CRPF deputy commandant, for allegedly “murdering” a tribal man and “destroying the evidence” a year ago, the Indian Express reported.On June 13 last year, the police had registered an FIR against members of the tribal community, claiming that the CRPF’s elite CoBRA – special operation unit – caught them with arms, and the tribals allegedly fired upon them. The FIR said that the police also allegedly fired in self-defence.The incident happened in Piri village, under Garu block of Jharkhand’s Latehar district.As per the tribals’ version of what happened that day, the police allegedly fired upon them assuming they belonged to the banned CPI (Maoist) group. They told the newspaper that they were carrying with them “country-made gun to hunt in the forest area”, however, the police appeared to have mistook them even though they screamed that they were not members of “any party”.On May 3, a second FIR was registered against CRPF personnel and Jharkhand Police, saying that a tribal man, Brahmdev Singh, was “murdered” when he, along with the others, had gone for hunting, the report said.Interestingly, when the case was being heard in the high court on May 12, the state never submitted that they had already registered an FIR.After Brahmdev Singh allegedly died after police fired upon the tribals, more than 50 villagers marched to the police station for registration of a cross-FIR. The FIR called it a case of “unilateral firing” by security personnel. The then Latehar SP Prashant Anand had told the Indian Express: “The entire complaint seems to be an afterthought.”Also read: Illegal Detention, Forced Marriage: What Happens After Alleged Naxals ‘Surrender’ in Bastar?Seeing police inaction, the deceased’s wife Jeramani Devi had filed a complaint in the lower court in October last year. The judicial magistrate on January 1 this year ordered the police to register an FIR under provisions 156(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). The provision says that if the police authority does not perform their duty, i.e., register the complaint or FIR, then the magistrate who is empowered under Section 190 of CrPC may order an investigation by a police officer.Meanwhile, since there was a delay in police’s response, a plea was filed in the high court for a CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) inquiry into the case.However, there appeared to be confusion over who is investigating the case. Station house office Ranjeet Kumar Yadav of the Garu police station on February 2 had written to the judicial magistrate that an FIR had already been registered and the CID was separately probing the case. “This is to inform that the Ranchi CID is already investigating the case and the place of occurrence is also the same and it is an independent agency. It is not in accordance with the law that two agencies investigate the same incident,” he wrote, the daily reported.However, on May 12, Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi of the Jharkhand high court noted that the police did not register an FIR despite the lower court order. “The said order was not complied with on the ground that…(a case) has already been registered and investigation is being done by the CID, Jharkhand.”The court then asked the state to file a counter-affidavit as to why the matter was not handed over to the CBI.The petitioner’s lawyer, Shailesh Poddar, who is associated with the People’s Union for Civil Liberties in Jharkhand, told the newspaper: “Recently, I got to know that the FIR had already been registered on May 3. It is strange as the state never mentioned it to the high court on the May 12 hearing.”The case will be next heard on June 28.Also read: Nearly a Third of India’s Adivasis Fear Being Framed for Maoist Activities, Finds StudyIn February, a similar case of custodial torture and police inaction was reported by The Wire when a 42-year-old Adivasi man, Anil Singh, hailing from Kuku village in Jharkhand’s Latehar district, was allegedly beaten by police officials after they accused him of having Maoist links.Despite serious physical injuries to Singh, and relentless protests and demonstrations outside the Garu police station, villagers allege that no action has been taken against the accused officials.Singh had told The Wire: “It has been a month and one day, and I am finally inching closer to getting an FIR registered. After I was beaten up and tortured, I was told that the police will take appropriate action and my treatment will be taken care of. Sixteen days after my torture, I was paid peanuts for my treatment. I am continuing to struggle.”Villagers had said that the instances of violence have increased in the last decade and the story of the violence is not Anil Singh’s alone.