Three Andhra Pradesh police officials have been booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for alleged illegal detention of three persons to force a confession related to a cricket betting racket.
The three officers from Guntur district, Inspector N Venkata Rao, head constable Sambasiva Rao and constable Veeranjaneyulu, were booked by the CBI on Tuesday, reported The Hindu. The CBI had earlier carried out a preliminary inquiry into the allegation based on directions from the Andhra Pradesh High Court.
The case pertains to the alleged illegal detention of Nala Bolu Adinarayna, Rayidi Srinivasa Rao and Thumati Srinivasa Rao. The three men were picked up by the police from their homes on October 14, 2019 and produced before the court 18 days later on October 31.
The family of the three men, who were kept in the dark about their whereabouts, filed a missing persons complaint with the Guntur and Pattabhipuram police the same day.
Under Article 22(2) of the Indian Constitution, police officials making an arrest must produce the arrested person before the Magistrate within 24 hours of the arrest. Failing to do so would make them liable for wrongful detention.
The family later approached the Andhra Pradesh High Court with a habeas corpus petition on October 30, reported The New Indian Express.
The Chebrolu police produced the three men before the court on October 31 in a cricket betting case.
The High Court, however, directed the Guntur principal civil judge to carry out an inquiry into the role of the police in the alleged illegal detention of the three men and file a report. The civil judge submitted a report in February this year and the Andhra Pradesh High Court directed the CBI in Delhi to carry out an investigation.
In another incident in the state just last week, an Inspector-rank officer who beat up a Dalit man in Srikakulam district was suspended by the Director General of Police Gautam Sawang after a video of the incident went viral on social media. The 20-second video showed the policeman kicking a man in the stomach and slapping him, even as the man pleads for the officer to stop.
Later, another video was released on social media, in which the victim was made to ‘certify’ that the Inspector was a good officer and had only “counselled” him. The man even claimed that the policeman had fed him a meal later. The second video appeared to be an apparent bid to pacify the outrage over the incident.