The Bombay High Court has rejected the bail plea of three Crime Branch constables from Daman who have been accused of abducting a group of friends from Surat, and extorting ₹7 lakh from them.
Dismissing the bail application filed by Ramdevsinh Jadeja, Vishal Mir and Chintan Arvindbhai Desai, Justice Neela Gokhale observed that the allegations were “grave and serious”, holding that the magistrate had rightly taken cognisance of their non-bailable offences. The order was pronounced on December 16.
The case stems from a first information report (FIR) registered at the Coastal Police Station in Kadaiya, Daman, this year, under Sections 140(2), 308(7) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023. The FIR says that on August 25, complainant Aajessh Patel and his friends were intercepted while travelling to Daman, taken to police headquarters, slapped, and threatened with false cases, unless they paid ₹25 lakh. The amount was later negotiated to ₹10 lakh, and ₹7 lakh was allegedly handed over near a Hyundai showroom before their release.
‘Detention is not abduction’
Appearing for the applicants, senior advocate Manoj Mohite argued, “The offences under which the Applicants and the Co-accused are charged are all bailable offences and hence, as of right, the applicants deserve to be enlarged on bail.” He contended that Section 140(2) was “appropriately dropped” during investigation and added, “If an officer detains someone for investigation, that does not constitute abduction, even if the person detained is later found innocent.”
