Police to probe into arrest of Rajasthan scribe

A high-level inquiry has been ordered into the alleged wrongful arrest of a journalist based in Rajasthan in connection with a case under the SC & ST Act lodged in a court here, a top police official said today.

The probe will be done by Inspector General of Police, Patna zone, Naiyar Hasnain Khan.

I have been asked by the headquarters to inquire into the reports that have been appeared in the media regarding the arrest of Barmer resident Durg Singh Rajpurohit, the IG, told PTI.

It will be an administrative inquiry since the matter does not relate to Bihar police per se as he was arrested following a complaint lodged in the court which issued a warrant, Khan said.

According to reports, a complaint under SC & ST Act was lodged in the court against Rajpurohit by Rakesh Paswan, a resident of Digha police station area in the district,on May 31.

Paswan had alleged that he worked for Rajpurohit who did not pay him wages regularly and beat him up frequently. He had also alleged that when he returned home, the Barmer scribe came to his house on May 07 along with some other associates and thrashed and abused him.

The SC & ST court here, subsequently, issued a warrant on August 16 following which a police team visited Barmer and arrested Rajpurohit on August 18. He was brought here and sent to 14 days in judicial remand vide an order dated August 21.

Media reports have, however, also quoted Rajpurohits family as having stated that he never visited Patna and that he had been framed at the instance of a BJP leader in Barmer who was said to be upset with the scribe.

Some of these reports also claimed that Paswan has disowned the case lodged in his name and said that he did not know Rajpurohit.

I have been asked to complete the inquiry in three to four days. However, much would depend on what facts emerge during the probe, the IG said.