PCAPA men ‘picked up’ by joint forces go missing, cops deny arresting them

Two activists of the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA), who were reportedly picked up by joint forces from their Lalgarh homes on December 6, have been reported missing even as the police deny having arrested them. Jhargram Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Ulganathan P has directed the IC of Lalgarh police station to furnish a report mentioning the whereabouts of the two — Raju Adak and Jaideb Bera.

Kanika Adak, wife of Raju, and Anjali Bera, wife of Jaideb, have jointly filed a miscellaneous petition with the Jhargram Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Ulganathan P, claiming that Raju and Jaideb have not been booked in any case.

Kaushik Sinha, Kanika’s lawyer, said: “On December 6, the joint forces picked up Raju from Jirakhuli and Jaideb from Jirapara. Around 16 persons were picked up from the area of which 14 were released. There is, however, no news on Raju and Jaideb.”

Superintendent of Police, West Midnapore, Manoj Verma, said: “The joint forces did not arrest anybody from Jirapara in Lalgarh on December 6. Raju and Jaideb are not in our custody.”

Kanika, however, disagrees with the police version. “Around 75-80 police personnel entered our village around 1 am on December 6 and arrested my husband. The following day when I went to the Lalgrah police station, they told me that Raju has been detained and would be released after interrogation.”

She added: “Ten days have passed since, but they have neither released Raju nor produced him in court. I am completely in the dark about his whereabouts.”

The SDM admitted that he has not received any report on the matter. “According to rules, if the police arrest anybody from the area falling under my jurisdiction, they need to intimate me. In this case, I was not informed. The matter has been brought to my notice and I have asked the IC to furnish a report by December 24,” said the SDM.

The PCAPA, meanwhile, has threatened to resort to violence if the duo is not tracked within a week. “There are several witnesses who will speak in court on how Raju and Jaideb were dragged out of their homes by the joint forces and arrested. We have information that they were handed over to the CPM cadres. If the police cannot tell us about their whereabouts in a week, we will use arms against the officials and nobody will stop us.” IE