High court reprimanded
Ranchi, Oct 20: The Jharkhand High Court reprimanded police officials of Dhanbad district for not giving a proper reply in a matter related to the release of 32 tonnes of coal confiscated with a truck 10 years ago in the district.
The police officials who faced the wrath of the high court included the SSP of the district and the officer-in-charge of the Saraidhela police station where the coal-laden truck was kept.
While the court, aware of the release of the confiscated truck from the police station, wanted to have a clear-cut reply on whether it was released from the police station or not, the police officials gave a vague reply. They replied that a new smart police station building was built by demolishing the old police station building and removing their belongings and it is being used since June 18, 2020. Their affidavit suggested that during the construction of the new police station building, the seized coal was buried behind the police station premises, some part of which is still visible.
The matter reached before the court on May 2, 2012, when a coal-laden truck belonging to Raj Chouhan was confiscated by the police in Dhanbad. Police took action after finding it a case of illegal transportation. Case number 427/2012 was registered at Saraidhela police station in the matter. The court of CJM Dhanbad had ordered the release of the applicant on 2nd April 2018 after which the petitioner had filed a petition in the court for the release of coal. The lower court rejected the petition after which Chauhan filed a criminal revision in the High Court for the release of coal. In this case, Pratyush Lala and Deepak Sahu argued on behalf of the applicant.
