PATNA: In a case of mistaken identity and shoddy investigation by police, a daily-wage worker in Bihar was arrested for a crime he never committed and then went through the judicial rigmarole for two years. But he finally proved in court that he was the wrong man the cops had arrested.
Raju Seth, a resident of Dalmianagar in Rohtas district, was arrested on December 28, 2015 for failing to appear in court on the scheduled dates after being granted bail over a year ago. All his claims and protests that he was neither arrested ever nor was there any case against him in any court failed to convince the cops from Dalmianagar police station. He was lodged in the district jail and came out on bail eight days later.
In fact, Raju Seth happened to share the first name of the accused, Raju Prasad, a truck driver booked by the cops for causing the death of a man due to negligent driving in Sasaram. Prasad surrendered before a local court on November 12, 2014 and was granted bail the same day.
Prasad’s bail was cancelled and a non-bailable warrant was issued against him on November 30, 2015 due to his frequent failure to appear in the court on the scheduled dates. The cops got no trace of him till they met Seth.
“They arrested me, presented me in court as Raju Prasad and lodged me in the jail. It was a terrible experience for me and my family,” said Seth. “I spent time, money and energy to contest the case in court for a crime that I never committed. I also looked for the real accused for months, and I succeeded,” he added.
Seth learnt that Raju Prasad had died in a road accident in Aurangabad on April 14, 2015. So he obtained the FIR of that accident, the autopsy report and the death certificate, and approached the court with the prayer to discharge him in the case.
The court of chief judicial magistrate (CJM) in Sasaram asked the cops to file an inquiry report on Seth’s petition. After sitting on the order for eight months, the cops submitted their report corroborating Seth’s claims in September 2017.
With the cops admitting that they had committed an error by arresting an innocent man, the court discharged Seth on January 6 and ordered that action be taken against the guilty cops.
“This is a serious matter. Suitable action will be taken as per law against officials at Dalmianagar police station found responsible for the troubles of this innocent man,” said Rohtas SP Manavjeet Singh Dhillon.