Six police personnel from Mandsaur district were suspended Tuesday following serious concerns expressed by a Madhya Pradesh High Court judge over their handling of a case against an 18-year-old Class 12 student, who has been behind bars since his arrest in August.
The suspensions came after the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court took the extraordinary step of summoning the district’s Superintendent of Police to personally explain alleged glaring irregularities in the investigation, including CCTV evidence that appeared to contradict the prosecution’s timeline.
The case centres on the arrest of the 18-year-old from Rajasthan in August, after the Malhargarh police claimed to have recovered 2.714 kg of opium from his possession.
On December 5, during a bail hearing before the High Court, defence counsel Himanshu Thakur presented CCTV footage that showed three men in civilian clothes escorting the accused off a bus at approximately 11.15 pm on the day of the arrest. In police records, though, the teenager was shown as arrested with the contraband nearly six hours earlier, at 5:15 pm.
Another photograph produced by Thakur showed the accused outside the police station wearing the same T-shirt as that visible in the purported bus footage.
When questioned in court on December 5, Sub-Inspector Sanjay Pratap Singh of Malhargarh Police Station said he could not identify the three individuals who removed the accused from the bus.
Justice Subodh Abhyankar remarked that “the entire case of the prosecution is rather suspicious”, adding: “… this court is of the considered opinion that the entire police force of police station Malhargarh District Mandsaur is involved in the case.”
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Justice Abhyankar directed Superintendent of Police Vinod Kumar Meena to appear before the court to explain the circumstances surrounding the arrest. Meena, who appeared before the court Tuesday, told it about the suspension of six officers of the Malhargarh Police Station, including the station in-charge, two sub-inspectors, and three constables.
“The policemen have been suspended and a departmental enquiry has been initiated against them following the SP’s visit to the court,” Additional SP Tersingh Baghel confirmed to The Indian Express.
SP Meena did not respond to queries.
The 18-year-old has been charged under Sections 8/18 and 29 of the NDPS Act for possession of 2.714 kg of opium for alleged smuggling purposes. His counsel argued that the entire case was fabricated, pointing to the timeline inconsistencies and the presence of unidentified individuals escorting him from the bus hours after his supposed arrest.
Defence counsel Thakur told The Indian Express: “Upon being summoned, Superintendent of Police Meena appeared before the court on Tuesday and informed the court about the suspension of six police personnel.”
