AGRA: In violation of Supreme Court guidelines, two youth, including a class 11 student who is a minor, were handcuffed while being arrested, taken for a medical examination, and later to a court in Kasganj. They were subsequently sent to jail on Tuesday.
The two, aged 20 and 17, were booked under the Arms Act after they allegedly posted pictures with three illegal weapons on social media. The adult, Ritik Gupta, is a first-year B.Com student who was not allowed to sit for his exams despite repeated requests to the SHO. His family claimed that the officer threatened to "put them all behind bars."
SP Botre Rohan Pramod said, "The family of the accused who had an exam should have approached the court for permission to appear in it." In the videos shared by family members of the accused, two policemen were seen taking the duo on their bike, all four sharing one seating space. A police constable was seen holding the rope attached to their handcuffs.
Family members of the accused claimed that they were picked up by the police from their homes on Sunday night. No weapon was recovered from them, they said. "Police didn't produce the two in court within 24 hours, as is required by procedure. They were kept at the police station for two nights and were finally taken to a court on Tuesday afternoon. They didn't share a copy of the FIR with us, either," one family member told TOI. The two have no past criminal records.
Kasganj city police SHO Ramesh Bharadwaj said, "Two illegal weapons were recovered from the duo. They were not found at home and were arrested from different locations on Tuesday morning. They were booked under the Arms Act and were sent to jail following court orders".
The parents of the two claimed that they are friends. They had shot pictures with the weapons during a wedding ceremony and posted them on social media to "show off", they said. "They were not aware that this would land them in jail," they said. However, the parents did not mention who provided the weapons to them.
SP Pramod said, "A probe has been ordered for the handcuffing incident. It is subject to the court to determine whether the accused is a minor or an adult." He added that a challan has been issued under the Motor Vehicles Act against the policemen for riding a bike with four passengers. "Directions have been issued to ensure that such instances do not surface in the future," he said.
Etah-based senior lawyer Prashant Pundhir said, “There have been serious lapses on the part of the police in the entire matter. Firstly, cops should have ascertained the age of the two individuals arrested. Secondly, one of the accused was produced in court after his exam was over. A lower court cannot take cognisance of the plea from an accused to appear in an exam before the police present the case to them. Police could have allowed the student in custody to appear for his exam. Finally, handcuffing is a blatant violation of human rights of the accused and the incident must be probed”.
