Patna, June 13: An 18-year-old boy has spent the last 91 days in jail, even writing his Class XII board exams in custody, for a crime police now admit he did not commit.
Amit Kumar, a resident of Makaspur village in Barauni block of Begusarai district, was arrested on March 14 on the charge of kidnapping his neighbour Chandan Thakur, also 18, from Maharathpur, a hamlet about 3km from their place of residence.
Amit’s parents kept telling the police their son was not involved but the cops did not listen and the boy, who had to appear for the Bihar School Examination Board test, was sent to jail. He had to appear for his matriculation examination papers at the Collegiate School examination centre in Begusarai town, guarded by security personnel.
The mistake of the police came to the fore after they, in the course of investigation, zeroed in on Chandan Jha, a primary school teacher in his twenties and a neighbour of the 18-year-olds in Makaspur. Jha was finally arrested on June 8.
Police sources said Amit, in spite of sustained interrogation in custody, could not shed any light on Thakur, who was untraceable. Failing to get any leads, the police started probing more and picked up Jha for interrogation. The teacher, according to the police, confessed that Thakur had not been abducted but had died soon after suffering serious injuries in a scuffle between the two on the night of March 14.
“I could not restrain myself when I caught him (Thakur) red-handed in a room with my younger sister. In the scuffle, he fell on the ground and suffered grievous injuries in his head. He died instantly. Apprehending trouble, I, along with my accomplices, dumped his body in a bush on the outskirts of the village,†the police quoted Jha as saying.
The police later exhumed a skeleton from the bush in the presence of Suresh Ram, a local magistrate. Jha’s four accomplices — identified as Rudra Narain Jha alias Tuntun, Umashankar Jha, Sanjeev Kumar and Lalan Jha — were also arrested.
“The sample of the skeleton has been sent to the state forensic science laboratory in Patna,†said Begusarai superintendent of police (SP) Kshatranil Singh. The report of the forensic test is awaited.
Admitting that the police’s investigation was faulty, the SP has directed the investigating officer of the case to submit the final report in the case, declaring Amit innocent at the earliest.
“As soon as I came to know about the facts of the matter, I called investigating officer Poonam Kumari and issued the necessary instructions,†Kshatranil Singh said.
But the wait for Amit’s family continues, as it will take at least a week for the legal formalities to be completed to ensure his release. “We are happy to know that the truth has finally come to light and my son has been found innocent,†said Amit’s father Nikesh Jha, who, however, demanded suitable action against the officials responsible for sending an innocent boy to jail.