Patna: A sweet shop owner who was fighting a divorce case was arrested and had to spend the whole night in the police lock-up because of the poor grasp the police have on the English language. An officer misunderstood the word “warrant” on top of a court order for an arrest warrant and ended up harassing an innocent person. The warrant was actually a directive to assess the property details as the man had failed to pay maintenance to his wife.
Neeraj Kumar from Jehanabad was wrongfully arrested for a night before being produced at a family court in Patna the next day. He spoke to TOI on the phone saying that the court realised that the officer had goofed up and immediately ordered his release.
Jehanabad ASP, Pankaj Kumar has admitted to the lapse while stating that the document the police received was that if Neeraj failed to pay Rs 2,500 maintenance per month to his wife then he would be taken to assess his immovable assets and send the details to court.
Previously, Neeraj had filed for divorce in the year 2014 after his wife had lodged two dowry cases against him. He stated that his father-in-law was a SAP jawan in the Bihar police and demanded Rs 10 lakh to drop the case but a Patna court sentenced him to 3-year imprisonment in July. However, he was granted bail immediately.
