Gujarat: Four policemen among five booked for thrashing minor on suspicion of theft

Botad, Sep 13 (PTI) Five persons, including four policemen, have been booked for allegedly keeping a minor in illegal custody and assaulting him inside a police station on suspicion of theft in Gujarat’s Botad district, an official said Saturday.

Based on the statement of the 17-year-old boy, an FIR (first information report) was registered at Botad town police station against an assistant sub-inspector, three constables and one more person for thrashing the minor last month.

The accused cops are attached to the same Botad town police station, he said.

“The minor was taken to the police station and beaten up. Considering the seriousness of the incident, Botad Superintendent of Police ordered an inquiry,” said Deputy SP Maharshi Raval.

The case has been registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 120 (1) for voluntarily causing hurt and 127 (8) for wrongful confinement, as well as under the Juvenile Justice Act section concerning illegal detention of a minor, he said.

As per the FIR, the boy was detained over accusations of theft on August 19 and assaulted inside the police station, following which he was admitted to a hospital in Botad and later shifted to Ahmedabad.

The four policemen are accused of brutally beating up the boy and leaving him with serious injuries, for which he is still being treated in Ahmedabad, said officials.

The accused have been identified as assistant sub-inspector Ajay Rathod and constables Kaushik Jani, Yogesh Solanki and Kuldeep Singh Vaghela.

As per the complainant, who is the minor's grandfather, when he confronted the accused cops at the police station, they searched his house and even took Rs 50,000 from there. PTI COR KA NR