Patna: A man in Bihar was locked up in custody for 24 hours after police failed to understand a legal notice issued in English.
Officers mistook the “warrant to enforce payment of maintenance” as a “warrant of arrest”.
A family court in Patna had recently asked the Makhdumpur police in Jehanabad district to submit a report about the property owned by Neeraj Kumar, after his wife filed a divorce petition, reports said.
The woman had accused her husband of mental and physical torture.
Last week Kumar was serving customers at his shop when local police arrived and arrested him.
He was asked to sit in the police jeep, after which he was taken into custody at the Makhdumpur police station.
Reports said the young man tried hard to convince the police that the letter which the court had issued was not a “warrant of arrest” but the officers remained unmoved.
As a last resort, he asked the policemen to talk to his lawyer but the officers refused to listen to him.
As a result he had to spend the night in custody.
The next day, the police took the man to Patna and presented him before a family court, and it was only then that the police realised their blunder.
Reports said seeing the man in custody, the court severely reprimanded the officers and ordered them to send him home.
Kumar, a resident of Jehanabad district, married Renu Devi from Punpun block in Patna district in 2012. However, soon after their marriage, the relationship got strained. Subsequently, Kumar’s wife filed cases of torture against him and also divorce petition in the Patna family court.
It was in the light of her complaint petition that the court issued the order for a detailed report about the man’s property while also ordering Kumar to pay monthly maintenance amount of Rs2,500 (Dh131).
However, the police didn’t understand the order as it was written in English and arrested Kumar.