Ranchi: The Jharkhand High Court on Monday directed Chatra superintendent of police (SP) Sumit Agarwal to inform as to why two students were detained in the Lawalong police station for 10 days without following the proper protocol as per law.Agarwal appeared in person before the division bench of Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Arun Kumar Rai in a habeas corpus petition filed by Akhtari Khantun, the mother of one of the detenues.
The court, while interacting with the SP, said the police need to develop a good character and impression in the society. “If the student was let off after interrogation, it would have sent a good message to the society. The student is not a hardcore criminal. Had it been so, a case would have been registered against him, and he would have been presented before a magistrate or sent to custody. The police attended the student without any reason in the police station, which is beyond the process of law,” the court observed.The case diary of the matter pending before Lawalong police station was also presented before the court. The case diary does not talk of taking the student into custody. Therefore, his detention by the police in the police station is not recorded, the judges said.The police on Jan 26 picked up two students along with their mobile phones for allegedly being involved in an extortion racket. They were not released by the police and kept in the lock up for 10 days after which a habeas corpus petition was filed by the mother of one of the victims. The case will be heard again on Feb 27.
