Night of shame continues…..

SI Ajay Kumar, the young officer in charge, against official instructions not to venture out after sunset, came forward on his own to join the Delhi Police team. They planned to reccon Akshay’s village stealthily so as not to alarm its residents.

Local inquiries revealed that Akshay was not in the village. He had most likely gone to visit his in-laws, who also lived in a Naxalite-affected area. Inspector Rituraj’s team, on the advice of SI Ajay Kumar, decided to lie in wait. The inspector did well to keep the chowkidars of the village—the eyes and ears of the local police—in the loop. He promised them a handsome reward if they helped him nab Akshay. On 21 December, Akshay was spotted by a chowkidar getting off from a train at Tandwa railway station and then walking towards his village. The chowkidar lost no time in informing Inspector Rituraj, who rushed with his team and arrested Akshay. The news of Akshay’s arrest was conveyed to us before noon on 21 December.

Inspector Rituraj needed to obtain a transit remand from the local court in order to take Akshay to Delhi. Whenever the police make an arrest in an area outside their own jurisdiction, the law requires the arrested person to be produced before the local court of law and a transit remand to be obtained. The arrested person can then be lawfully produced before the court concerned. Inspector Rituraj contacted the district magistrate (DM) of Aurangabad to request his help in obtaining the transit remand at the earliest. The DM informed him that the district judge was attending a party at his residence and that the inspector should come there. Inspector Rituraj reached the DM’s residence and was introduced to the district judge, who took him to his residence, summoned his staff, dictated the order and issued a transit remand. By then it was 9 p.m., but the Delhi Police team decided to leave at the earliest for the nearest airport, which was in Varanasi.

To be continued……