Patna: A vigilance court in Patna has sentenced three police personnel and a contractual driver to three years’ imprisonment in connection with a 2017 case involving the assault and robbery of a fruit vendor at Gandhi Maidan. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on each of the four convicts.
The case dates back to the night of September 10, 2017, when Sudhir, a fruit seller, was stopped by a police patrol vehicle near Jamal Road while he was travelling from Punai Chak around 1.30 am. According to the prosecution, the policemen detained him in the name of questioning, verbally abused him, assaulted him and forcibly took Rs 2,300 from his wallet.
Sudhir later managed to reach Dak Bungalow on foot, where on-duty policemen were present. After he narrated the incident, he was taken to Gandhi Maidan police station. The policemen involved in the incident were summoned to the station, where Sudhir identified them. The money allegedly taken from him was subsequently returned.
Following media reports and mounting pressure, an FIR was registered at Gandhi Maidan police station on September 12, 2017, against then assistant sub-inspector Vidyanand Yadav, constables Naushad Alam and Moti Ram, and contractual driver Virendra Kumar. The case was registered on the directions of the then Patna senior superintendent of police, Manu Maharaj, who had constituted an inquiry committee to probe the incident.
The departmental inquiry found all four accused guilty. They were suspended, arrested from the police station itself and later sent to jail. A departmental proceeding was also initiated against them.
After an eight-year-long trial, the vigilance court held all four accused guilty of the charges. The court sentenced each of them to three years in prison and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each. Former ASI Vidyanand Yadav has since retired from service.
