Pune student languishes in Bihar jail after cops suspended

A student from Pune is languishing in a jail in Bettiah, Bihar, as police officials of the Bihar police who filed a rape case against him were suspended for “gross negligence” and alleged “vested interests”.

On March 30, two Bihar policemen came to Pune and picked up Zorar Sherkar, 22, a 2016 management graduate from Maharashtra Institute of Technology School of Management (Mitsom). He was arrested in a case under Section 376 of Indian Penal Code for sexual assault of a 44-year-old woman.

“They picked up my child by producing a fake non-bailable warrant (NBW). The two officers arrived on a plane and left with my child,” said his mother, Dr Nusrit Sherkar. Dr Sherkar is a general physician who has a private practice in Gunj peth, Pune.

“They had a warrant. We had to assist the police who had come from Bihar. After they left, we did not look into it,” said senior police inspector Balkrushan Kadam of Samarth police station.

Dr Sherkar is now awaiting the final order on the bail hearing on Monday in a local court in Bettiah.

Nayyar Hasnain Khan, zonal inspector general of Muzaffarpur, under which Bettiah falls, issued suspension orders on Thursday, against the two police officials who conducted the investigation - Binod Kumar Singh and Krishna Kumar. The IG suspended them for negligence in investigating the case and possibly fabricating it.

“The complainant is a 44-year-old woman. She claimed that she worked as domestic help and my child had relations with her. If she worked for us, how is the place of crime registered as Bihar?” asked Dr Sherkar.

In a letter to Bettiah’s superintendent of police Jayant Kant, dated June 6, 2019, Khan has also sought an explanation from the then Narkatiyaganj SDPO Nisar Ahmad. “It is surprising that a boy who never visited Bihar has been framed in a rape case. It was found that the girl’s statement has not been recorded under section 164 of IPC. The manner in which the case has been registered and the boy taken under judicial custody clearly points to gross negligence on part of the police,” Khan told HT.

First Published: Jun 08, 2019 00:13 IST