Zeenews Bureau
Mumbai: Inspector General (Konkan Range) Sukhvindar Singh on Friday submitted his report after an enquiry into the arrest of two girls from Palghar who were held for posting a ‘derogatory’ comment on Facebook questioning the bandh following the death of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray.
In his findings, the Konkan IG found the charges against the two girls ‘unjustified’ and suggested action be taken against the two police officers instrumental in arresting the girls, TV reports said.
Charges against the girls may be dropped and Additional Superintendent of Police too may face action, reports added.
The report on the arrest, which sparked an outrage, contained details of the FIR, police diary and statements of the officers of Palghar police station in Thane who were involved in the arrest of the two girls, the police officer told agencies.
The statements of Thane Rural Superintendent of Police Ravindra Sengaokar, Additional Superintendent of Police Sangramsinh Nishandar, Palghar police station senior inspector Srikant Pingle's statements were also recorded.
"The detailed report, which has been submitted to the DGP office, also mentions whether the arrests were warranted and whether the sections applied were correct," the officer said but refused to comment further.
21-year-old Shaheen Dhadha was arrested for Facebook status update which reportedly read- ‘People like Thackeray are born and die daily and one should not observe a bandh for that.’
Her friend, Renu, who ‘liked’ her comment was also arrested.
The duo was reportedly booked under Section 295 (a) of the IPC (for hurting religious sentiments) and Section 64 (a) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
However, within hours of the arrest, both of them were released on bail of Rs 15,000 each.
Importantly, the girl had withdrawn the comment and apologised before the attacks took place.
Taking note of the incident, Justice Markandey Katju wrote a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan in which he termed the arrest as absurd and demanded immediate action against guilty officers.
Mumbai police also faced flak from Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, who said that the case might have been mishandled by the Maharashtra police and that the government could step in to save the situation.
"The Maharashtra police mishandled the law, it's illegal to arrest people like this," Sibal was quoted as telling a TV news channel.
With Agency inputs
First Published: Friday, November 23, 2012, 19:19