Court pulls up police for man's 'illegal arrest', demanding bribe for bail

New delhi: A court here pulled up the Delhi Police for allegedly arresting a man illegally in a theft case and demanding money from his sister for helping in bailing him out, saying the case appeared to have been solved "just to solve it".

Additional Sessions Judge Sonu Agnihotri directed the deputy commissioner of police (DCP) of Dwarka to inquire regarding the alleged demand of money from the accused's sister on part of police officials and file a report on

January 13.

The court further directed the DCP to take action regarding the illegal detention of Ravi Nanda in the case and file an Action Taken Report (ATR) by January 13.

It also granted bail to Nanda on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 20,000 with one surety of like amount in the case.

The court's observations came after the investigating officer (IO) said the man was arrested merely on the basis that his sister had a yellow motorcycle with red rims which matched the description as given by the complainant.

When the court asked the IO if in Delhi there can be any other yellow motorcycle with red rims, he submitted that there can be.

The IO had also told the court that no Test Identification Parade (TIP) of Nanda was conducted as the complainant could not identify the accused as he was wearing a helmet at the time of the theft. He had further submitted that no stolen property was recovered from Nanda.

"...I am of the view that the present case appears to have been solved just to solve the case and the accused appears to have been detained in illegal custody by IO," the judge said in his order passed on January 7.

It further noted that the reply of the IO has been forwarded by the SHO concerned who shared the responsibility for the illegal detention of the accused.

During the hearing, Nanda's counsel submitted that Rs 50,000 was allegedly demanded from the accused's sister by an assistant sub-inspector for helping in bailing him out. The conversation was recorded by her. After hearing the audio clip, the court observed that money appeared to be allegedly demanded in the audio clip.