Singh

MEMORANDUM **

Karnail Singh, a native and citizen of India, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ dismissal of his appeal from an immigration judge’s (“IJ”) denial of his application for asylum and withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for substantial evidence the IJ’s factual determinations regarding eligibility for asylum and withholding of removal. INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478 , 481 n. 1, 112 S.Ct. 812 , 117 L.Ed.2d 38 (1992). We grant the petition.

The IJ found Singh’s testimony credible that police detained him without charge and severely beat him. Absent evidence that Singh’s detention was pursuant to a legitimate prosecutorial purpose, a presumption exists that he was persecuted. Ratnam v. INS, 154 F.3d 990, 995-96 (9th Cir.1998) (rejecting “the argument that extra-prosecutorial torture, if conducted for intelligence gathering purposes, does not constitute persecution.”).

Because the record evidence supports the conclusion that Singh suffered past persecution on account of political opinion, he is entitled to the presumption that he has a well-founded fear of future persecution. See Singh v.…