The policemen allegedly detained the woman for more than 24 hours. (File Photo)
A local court on Thursday issued an order to start a case against three policemen in connection with the alleged detention of a woman for more than 24 hours at Hanskhali police station in Nadia district.
Additional chief judicial magistrate (ACJM), Ranaghat, Sanghamitra Poddar issued the order against officer in charge (OC) Hanskhali police station Aninda Bose, second officer Shibshankar Bose (in charge of Bagula outpost) and police personnel Tapas Ghosh.
They were slapped with charges under IPC sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 384 (extortion), 511 (attempt to commit punishable offences), 166 (public servant disobeying law), among others.
The court's order followed the visit of ACJM herself to Hanskhali police station yesterday after a complaint by Gobinda Biswas of Hanskhali Mayurhat and rescue of the 22-year old victim.
In the police station, the magistrate had checked and found that no complaint had been lodged against the girl whom the cops detained from December 23-28 and took the photocopy of the pages of the general diary during the period so that no insertions could be made later on, a district official said.
She then ordered the OC to call all police personnel to stand in a row and asked the detained girl to identify those who went to pick her up on the night of December 23 and asked the OC on Wednesday to submit a report within 24 hours over the illegal detention of the woman.
The OC submitted the same at Ranaghat Court on Thursday in a sealed envelope but refused to comment anything. The petitioner and one of her daughters, Laxmi, appeared in the court as witnesses and evidences were taken.
Laxmi stated that the detained woman had been her friend since last ten years. She alleged in the court room that the cops had demanded Rs 2 lakh from them as bribe for letting the detained girl free.
According to the counsels of Biswas, police had taken the Delhi-based woman to police station from their home on the night of 23 December without any complaint and did not release her until December 28.
The policemen allegedly did not produce her in court and flouted the law which says that police must produce a person in court within 24 hours of picking him/her up.
ACJM Poddar rescued her from police station and took to Ranaghat in her own car.