HC directs CB-CID to probe mentally-retarded man's abduction

The Madras High Court today directed CB-CID to probe a case relating to the alleged abduction of a 29-year-old mentally challenged man by his former wife, who remarried him after her father-in-law bequeathed vast properties in his name.
When the petition by Ananthan, custodian of Manoj Rajan, came up, Justice PN Prakash directed the Inspector of Police, Gudalur Police Station, Nilgiris to transfer the case to the CB-CID, North Zone, immediately.
The petitioner, who sought a court direction to investigate the abduction case, submitted that Manoj Rajan, son of industrialist EJ Rajan, was married to one Priya Darshini in 2008 and within a year of marriage, she had filed for divorce alleging that her husband was suffering from a mental disorder.

When Manoj's father died in 2013, leaving behind a vast property to his only son, he had asked the petitioner to take care of the property and his son, he claimed.
Subsequently, Ananthan lodged Manoj Rajan in a Home for the mentally retarded at Gudalur in 2014.
The following year, Priya Darshini had filed a Habeas Corpus Petition in the Madras High Court, contending that Manoj was kept under illegal detention by the petitioner and Manoj's relative Rudolf Stany Pinto. However, the court dismissed the petition.

In May 2016, Priya along with a group of lawyers had abducted Manoj Rajan from the home, he alleged.

A complaint was lodged with Gudalur police, which took no further action, the petitioner alleged. This prompted him to approach the High Court seeking a direction to police to investigate the case.
Earlier, when the matter came up, Justice PN Prakash had directed the Nilgiris district SP to trace Manoj Rajan and admit him to the Home and file a report on July 25.
On July 25, the court was informed that Manoj Rajan was secured and lodged in the Gudalur Home.
"By no stretch of imagination, can one countenance the act of Priya Darshini, the divorced wife, to barge into a charity home with a group of lawyers and take forcible custody of a person and have the marriage performed in such a hurry," the Judge said and directed police to transfer the case to CB-CID.

The Judge also gave a direction to transfer the man from the Home at Gudalur to one run by MS Chellamuthu Trust, in Madurai and ordered Madurai police to provide sufficient security to him.