68-year-old alleges police harassment, seeks Bombay HC intervention in ‘false’ drug case

A senior citizen from Sion Koliwada has approached the Bombay high court (HC) seeking constitution of a special team to investigate “false” allegations against her after she and her daughter were arrested by Pune’s Bhosari police under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act

A senior citizen from Sion Koliwada has approached the Bombay high court (HC) seeking constitution of a special team to investigate “false” allegations against her after she and her daughter were arrested by Pune’s Bhosari police under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The woman was charged for allegedly being in possession of 320gm of brown sugar (poor quality heroin).

The petition was filed after Kala Rani Devendra was falsely implicated by Bhosari police station, Pune, on March 23, 2019, for possession of narcotics substances. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The senior citizen has submitted that while the police allow notorious drug suppliers to operate, people like her are harassed, and are not given a hearing. The HC has asked the state to respond to the petition.

A division bench of justice SS Shinde and justice Manish Pitale, while hearing a petition filed by Kala Rani Perisami Devendra, was informed by her advocate Anand Jondhale that the petitioner was a senior citizen residing and operating a small tobacco shop at Sion Koliwada. The petition was filed after Devendra was falsely implicated by Bhosari police station, Pune, on March 23, 2019, for possession of narcotics substances.

The petition claimed that Devendra’s daughter, who was also taken into custody when the senior citizen was picked up, was let off the next day after she paid a large sum to the police team to not be implicated in the case.

In light of these allegations, and the fact that police failed to take action against bigwigs like those involved in the Sushant Singh Rajput case, the petitioner sought an investigation into the alleged crime by a special investigation team (SIT) of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers, so that the facts of the case are unearthed and informed to the court.

After the court was informed by the state that the petition had not been served on them, HC directed Jondhale to serve the same with tangible proof of service. The petition is expected to come up for hearing in due course.