Director of Public Prosecutions Christopher Pryde has today filed a nolle prosequi in the High Court in Lautoka effectively ending the prosecution against four men accused of the murder of Jagdish Chand in 2010.
Jitendra Kumar, Subhash Chand, Parma Nand and Deo Chand were each charged with one count of murder.
Pryde said it is clear that each of the accused had received unexplained injuries at the time of their caution interview whilst in police custody.
He said it also appears that duress was placed on the interviewing officers by their superiors to deny all allegations of assault.
Pryde said this is a very serious allegation which needs to be fully investigated.
He said there being no admissible evidence against the accused other than the confession statements, the DPP’s Office is of the view that in these circumstances it would not be proper to continue with the prosecution.
Pryde has ended the prosecution and sent the file back to Police Commissioner, Brigadier General Sitiveni Qiliho to investigate the allegations of assault in custody.
He said that the filing of a nolle prosequi does not amount to an acquittal of the four persons.
If further evidence is received from the Police it will be considered and the charge against each person may be filed afresh.
Meanwhile Qiliho said he had discussions with the DPP last week regarding the decision to file a nolle prosequi against the four men.
Qiliho said he respects the decision made and has given his assurances that a thorough investigation will be carried out accordingly with regards to the allegations made.
He will be making further comments once the investigations are completed.
