Kendrapada: Headmaster of a primary school was mistakenly picked up by police on a warrant for another man and put in custody for around three hours at Aul in Odisha’s Kendrapada district.
After being detained for over three hours, he was released after police verified his biometric details and realised that the wrong person had been taken into custody.
The victim was identified as Sabikkuddin Khan, headmaster in-charge of Boulajodi Primary School. Khan alleged that he was picked up from his house and kept in custody without any reason and treated like a criminal by the police personnel.
As per information, a team led by IIC of Aul police station Purnacchandra Patayat suddenly turned up at Khan’s residence on Tuesday morning. When asked for identity details, Khan and his wife shared their names to which the police team dismissed as ‘lies’. They took him to the police station in a van and allegedly abused him on the way. They reportedly detained him in the lockup for over three hours only to realise while examining documents that they had caught the wrong person.
Though Khan was released, the incident sparked widespread outrage among the teachers’ fraternity who reached the police station and staged a protest.
“Because of this unlawful detention, Khan Sir was unable to come to school today. The police not only put him in custody by mistake, but also misbehaved with him without trying to ascertain his identity. It is an insult to the entire teaching community. We want the administration to address this issue immediately,” said Ratikanta Patra of Primary Teachers’ Association.
Khan said the police did not even give him an opportunity to provide a clarification while taking illegal action. “They did not even allow me to clarify before shoving me into the police van. For over three hours, I was in the lockup and treated like a criminal. It is not only humiliating but extremely traumatic. This incident has not just damaged my public reputation, it has also tarnished my image in my locality where people saw me being taken by the cops. I want my dignity to be restored. The district administration must immediately respond to this reprehensible act of the police,” he told the media.
Police, meanwhile, did not issue any official clarification in this connection so far.
