From one goof-up to another, Jharkhand police continue to plod along their merry way.
The latest faux pas involves the officer in-charge of Patan police station in Palamu, Birendra Paswan, who booked one person in a 2013 murder case.
But it was revealed later that the accused Kashmiri Paswan was actually cooling his heels in Bihar's Aurangabad prison when the murder took place in Daltonganj town.
YS Ramesh, the police superintendent of Palamu has instituted an inquiry into the incident, the second time the Jharkhand police have been left red faced this year.
Around February, Ranchi police had arrested three innocent youth for a murder that never took place. The three youngsters, all in their teens, were released recently.
The latest goof-up was revealed when the victim's father Vinay Paswan approached the police superintendent and pleaded his son's innocence in the case.
"I enquired with Aurangabad prison authorities in Bihar and found that Kashmiri was in the jail when the murder he is accused of took place in 2013. The police corrected itself in court following which the youth was released a fortnight ago," Ramesh told HT.
If negligence on the part of the officer-in-charge is proved, departmental proceedings for suspension would be initiated.
{{/usCountry}}If negligence on the part of the officer-in-charge is proved, departmental proceedings for suspension would be initiated.
{{/usCountry}}It was found that the OC had booked Kashmiri in the case on the confession of one Sujit Verma -- a notorious criminal active in both Jharkhand and Bihar border -- without proper investigations.
"I admit it was a big mistake. I am ready to face departmental action," the officer-in-charge said.
Police have, meanwhile, begun a fresh probe to arrest the "real" killers of Surendra Mehta.
(With inputs from F Ahmad in Daltonganj)