Before the chargesheet against the four accused — who are all majors — along with their juvenile accomplice, arrested for gangraping a young photojournalist in the defunct Shakti Mills compound, could be filed before a metropolitan magistrate court on Thursday, the lawyer for one of the accused alleged that the police had illegally detained him and asked him to withdraw the case.
Advocate Moin Khan, who has taken up the case for Kasim Bengali — reportedly the most barbaric among all the other accused — filed a formal complaint with Judge Uday Padwad alleging that two police officials, Ashok Pandey and Dalvi, from the Azad Maidan
police station illegally detained him and warned him of “dire consequences” if he takes up Bengali’s case.
“I was detained between 11 am to 12.30 pm today and asked to withdraw the panchnama. The two police officers threatened me of dire consequences if I didn’t comply with their demands. They both also said that in most cases the accused are Muslims and have the tendency to engage a Muslim lawyer,” Mr Khan told the court.
The lawyer pleaded the court to take action against the two police officials under Section 197 of the CrPC (prosecution of judges and public servants). However, the judge informed Mr Khan that Section 197 attracts a sanction from concerned authorities for the prosecution of public servants. The judge then directed the police to conduct an inquiry in the matter.
The advocate filed a separate application laying down his arguments against the two police officials, praying action against them.