Bihar teen arrested in case preceding his birth

In a case of mistaken identity, an 18-year-old man in north Bihar was arrested by the police in connection with an incident of arson that took place a year before he was born. The man, identified by a single name, Rajkumar, was arrested earlier this week at Makhnupur village in north Bihar.

In a case of mistaken identity, an 18-year-old man in north Bihar was arrested by the police in connection with an incident of arson that took place a year before he was born. The man, identified by a single name, Rajkumar, was arrested earlier this week at Makhnupur village in north Bihar.

The victim was released subsequently by a court order, after his birth certificate showed that he was born on February 15, 1996, well after the 1995 incident wherein some youths had pelted stones and attacked police officers.

After CJM court in Siwan reprimanded the police officers for the goof -up, officers investigating the case claimed it was an honest mistake. “We enforced a pending warrant against a man called Rajkumar, little realizing the Rajkumar we arrested was not the one named in the case,” said Mohammed Sayeed Ansari, SHO, Panchrukhi police station in Siwan district.

The arrested teenager had been away from Bihar for several years, doing odd jobs in Gujarat. He had returned to his native village just a week prior to his arrest. He was kept in custody for a day before the court intervention set him free.

“The court order came as a big relief. We were traumatised after Rajkumar was arrested without any fault of his,” said a relative of the victim.

Police are now hunting for the actual accused in the case, Rajkumar, son of Sudharshan Bhagat, who has a history of law violations.