Patna: Three police personnel and an alleged middleman were arrested and sent to judicial custody in Gopalganj district on Wednesday in connection with allegations of illegal detention, corruption and extortion. The accused allegedly kept several people in custody for around 36 hours without following due legal procedure, threatened them with false cases and demanded money for their release, police said.The arrested accused have been identified as Anil Ram, then SHO of Jadopur police station; Mahant Yadav, a police chowkidar; Rakesh Kumar, a police driver; and Raju Yadav, the alleged middleman.The action was taken by Gopalganj SP Vinay Tiwari after allegations surfaced that people had been illegally detained and money demanded for their release.According to police, the SP received confidential information on Aug 16 and ordered an inquiry. DSP (Headquarters), Gopalganj, was tasked with verifying the allegations. The DSP recorded statements and examined available evidence before submitting a report to the SP on Aug 18.According to the report, Jitan Ram, Vijay Ram, Shankar Ram, a woman and her minor daughter were allegedly detained at the police station premises for around 36 hours on Aug 14 and 15 without an FIR or requisite legal permission.The SP said Rs50,000 was allegedly demanded and collected through middleman Raju Yadav from Jitan and other villagers by threatening to implicate them in a case. Another Rs75,000 was allegedly collected through chowkidar Mahant Yadav for the release of the woman and her minor daughter, while Rs55,000 was allegedly extorted in the name of removing the name of Luv Kush, son of Satendra Singh, from a case or protecting him from legal action.The inquiry also found that chowkidars were allegedly assigned duties such as station writer, despite instructions from police headquarters restricting their role. Witnesses were also allegedly intimidated through middlemen and chowkidars to influence the investigation, police said.Police said the accused acknowledged their involvement during questioning. According to the SP, investigators also found evidence against the then SHO, including the absence of relevant entries in the station diary, documents relating to personal-recognition bonds (PR bonds), and the recording of statements of the allegedly innocent persons in court. Analysis of mobile phone records also reportedly showed that the SHO was in regular contact with the alleged middleman.
