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Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad
Andhra Pradesh Principal Home Secretary Bharath Chandra's visit to a police station in Hyderabad for the release of an industrialist, detained in connection with a cheating case, has kicked up a controversy.
Chandra made a surprise visit to Ramgopalpet police station on Saturday morning apparently to check the allegations of human rights violations against Godavari Drugs Limited managing director Mukund Kakani.
Chandra examined the general diary and the sentry book and spoke to Kakani who informed him that plainclothes men had picked him up without giving reasons for his arrest.
Kranthi Paper Products proprietor Atluri Rajendra, in a statement, claimed that the police nabbed Kakani in connection with cheating his firm to the tune of Rs 1.3 million [approximately US $26,804].
The police had lodged a case of cheating against Kakani last month under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code.
Rajendra alleged that Chandra, accompanied by Godavari drugs chairman Ghanshyam Jaju, visited the police station and set Kakani free. "Never in the past did the home secretary visit any police station to check human rights violations. Why did he respond this time when the wife of an accused called him up on his mobile phone?" Rajendra asked.
The principal secretary, however, brushed aside the criticism and maintained that he had acted on a complaint of human rights abuse from Jaju. "They [local police] had taken him [Kakani] into custody without making any record of his arrest in the police station, which is against the rules," he pointed out.
Chandra also denied any personal interest in the case. "I was only responding to an appeal to prevent illegal detention. Why cannot human rights apply to him [Kakani] even if he is my friend? I have acted according to the rules," he said.
The principal secretary said that he would do the same if he received similar complaints and the visit was meant to send the message across that the administration won't tolerate human rights violations.
Saifabad Assistant Commissioner of Police Ramesh Naidu refuted the claim that Kakani was kept in illegal detention. He said the industrialist was not arrested but brought to the station for questioning and verification of records.
The principal secretary has sent Kakani's case file to Hyderabad police Commissioner M V Krishna Rao for a thorough investigation. The commissioner has handed over the matter to the Crime Investigation Department of the Hyderabad police.
Rao said the home department is the nodal authority for monitoring human rights violations in police custody and it was in this backdrop that Chandra had visited the police station where Kakani was detained.
More reports from Andhra Pradesh
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