And although Barabanki police admitted to their “mistake” two weeks ago after the family approached the Allahabad high court, the victim remains lodged in Barabanki jail with cops making no attempt to secure his release.
Station house officer Rai Saheb Yadav, in charge of Jaitpur police station in Barabanki, went to the Lucknow home of Amitabh Singh in Daliganj on October 12, looking for his elder brother Vinod Kumar Singh.
When Amitabh told SHO Yadav that Vinod had died a few years ago after he was released on bail, Yadav asked him to accompany him to the police station to complete some formalities.
When Amitabh reached Jaitpur police station, he was put behind bars with the police identifying him as Vinod in their records.
Amitabh and his family made repeated pleas to senior cops saying SHO Yadav had picked up the wrong man, but in vain.
Amitabh’s family then approached Barabanki CJM, Shivani Jaiswal, on October 19.
The court ordered ASP Barabanki to file a report by October 22. In his report, ASP Barabanki Anand Kulkarni said they had no evidence to establish that the individual in question was not Vinod.
The family then filed a habeas corpus writ before the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on October 24 seeking Amitabh’s release.
Once the police learnt about this, senior police officers of Barabanki rushed to Amitabh’s house in Lucknow with a videographer on October 25 and recorded the statements of his family and neighbors. They all confirmed that Vinod had died a decade ago.
The next day, October 26, Barabanki police filed a fresh report before Barabanki CJM claiming the arrested individual was not Vinod.
But despite admitting to their blunder 17 days ago, police are still to release Amitabh. His family is now planning to start a fast-unto-death to secure his release.
Amitabh’s elder brother Vinod was sentenced to 10 years in jail on March 21, 1994, in a case related to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
After spending more than seven years in jail, he got bail from the Allahabad high court in July 2001. He died while he was out on bail.
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