Mumbai, Mar 25 A court in Maharashtra has ordered immediate release of two local NCP leaders held for allegedly kidnapping a Satara Zilla Parishad member during the governing body's presidential polls last week, citing their custodial ill-treatment and failure to follow mandatory arrest procedures.
The court pulled up the police for failing to provide arrest papers and said the "custodial interrogation cannot be permitted at the cost of the fundamental rights of the accused".
Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) (Mahabaleshwar in Satara) S Ivare, while granting bail to NCP leaders Anil Shivajirao Desai and Sandeep Mandave, on Monday also highlighted that the victim did not support the prosecution's case.
The court has also issued a show-cause notice to the police, directing them to explain their action.
The NCP leaders were arrested on Monday in connection for allegedly kidnapping a Satara ZP member and intimidating him during the ZP president's election held last week.
When the accused were produced before the court, they complained of ill-treatment at the hands of police.
In view of the claim, the JMFC directed their medical examination, the results of which confirmed the presence of injuries.
The court noted that the medical report "prima facie" support the allegations of police brutality.
In a blow to the prosecution's case, the victim himself later denied the police's claim of being kidnapped.
The court further highlighted that the investigating officer failed to furnish arrest forms in spite of repeatedly being asked in order to calculate the time of arrest.
"In view of the medical evidence indicating ill treatment, this court is of the opinion that grant of further police custody would not be justified, custodial interrogation cannot be permitted at the cost of the fundamental rights of the accused," the magistrate ruled.
The court then ordered the immediate release of the two on furnishing a PR bond of Rs 50,000.
Election to the Satara ZP president's post was conducted on Friday. The police allegedly took away some ZP members before the voting process started.
State ministers Shambhuraj Desai of the Shiv Sena and Makarand Patil of the NCP have also alleged that the local police manhandled them during the election.
