Notice to police in habeas corpus plea

March 24, 2012 03:44 am | Updated March 25, 2012 12:08 am IST - CHENNAI:

The Madras High Court has ordered notice to police authorities on a habeas corpus petition that 15 persons who had come to a village in Kancheepuram district for attending a ceremony were taken away by the police and their whereabouts are not known.

The petitioner prayed for a direction to the authorities to produce them before the court and hand them over to him.

A Division Bench of Justices K. Mohan Ram and G.M. Akbar Ali posted the matter for further hearing on March 26. In the petition, K. Munusami of Kizhkaalvaay on Nellikuppam Road in Kancheepuram district, a daily wage earner, stated that his relative C. Kaliyan was killed in a road accident. The ceremony was held at his house on March 19 and 20 and relatives had come from various places. After the ceremony on March 19, they were sleeping in the pandal.

Around 2 a.m., nearly a dozen personnel who came in a police jeep and van and forcibly took away K. Selvaraj and 14 others, including his brother, sleeping outside the house. The police personnel said they were from the local station and were taking the petitioner's relatives for an enquiry. They did not furnish any reason.

The next morning, when the panchayat president contacted the Thiruporur Inspector to know the whereabouts of the 15 persons, he was told that no one had been taken into custody and he had no knowledge about the incident.

The petitioner said he contacted various police authorities, but the whereabouts of his relatives were not known. A complaint had been lodged with the Thiruporur police station.

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