Ranchi, February 16 The Jharkhand High Court on Monday asked Chatra SP Sumit Agarwal to explain why two students were detained for 10 days at the Lavalong police station without following legal procedures.
The SP appeared before a division bench of Justices Sujit Narayan Prasad and Arun Kumar Rai in a habeas corpus petition filed by Akhtari Khantun, the mother of one of the students.
Police had picked up the two students in the early hours of January 26, alleging their involvement in an extortion racket.
However, they were not released and remained in custody for 10 days, prompting the filing of the petition.
The court, while interacting with the SP, said that the police need to maintain a positive image in society.
If the student had been released after interrogation, it would have sent a positive message to society, the court said.
A student is not a hardened criminal. If he were, a case would have been registered and he would have been presented before a magistrate or sent to judicial custody, the bench observed.
The police kept the student in the police station without any reason, which is beyond the bounds of the law, the court observed.
The case diary of the matter pending before Lavalong Police Station was also presented before the court.
The case diary does not mention taking the student into custody. Therefore, his detention in the police station is not recorded, the judges said.
The case will be heard again on February 27.