S.K.Agarwal, M.Chaudhary, JJ. - (1.) This petition has been filed by Shakir Hussain alias Shakul against his detention by the District Magistrate (detaining authority) Rampur dated 26.3.2004.
(2.) The facts of this case are that on the intervening night on 15/16.1.2004 these petitioners with three of his brothers and his companions entered the residence of Hazi Akbar Ali in village Ahmad. Nagar, PS. Milak Khana, District Rampur. The deceased Akbar Ali, his wife Zainab and an adopted daughter of theirs were sleeping in the verandah of the house. These accused persons forcibly took them into a room They have cut the cord of the cot and tied the two-Akbar Ali and his wife Zainab, with the cord on the said cots. Thereafter they were injected with some tranquiliser to make them unconscious by the assailants. They were also mercilessly done to death with knives. The young girl aged about 12 years was all along put under threat to her life. She was also injected with the cause psychotropic substance to make he unconscious. After committing the dastardly crime the miscreants made their escape good from the spot. At about morning hours when the young girl regained her consciousness she rushed to her natural father and reported the occurrence, as it was witnessed by her. They came to the place of occurrence alongwith many other villagers and found two old persons mercilessly done to death. They were tied with the rope so that they may not offer any resistance. To minimise the resistance they were injected as earlier stated with some heavy dose of a sedative. The natural father of young girl after noticing the entire facts went to the Police Station to lodge the report. On the registration of the case the S.H.O. visited the spot and completed the formalities of investigation including collection of blood and simple earth from the spot and the inquest, sending the body for the post mortem examination and such other formalities. Head constable and constables was also deputed to the spot. The villagers under the guidance of Pradhan made a complaint to the S.H.O. of Police Station Milak Khana after two days that the villagers are living in panic and terror due to the incident. Since the day of occurrence the children have stopped coming out on the road of the village. Women have also stopped going to their fields even for fodder. Some other subsequent report of enquiry of the head constable clearly make out that the panic and terror in the heart and soul of the villagers was such that the entire village activity has come to a grinding hardly. The agriculture was lying unattended. The children stopped visiting school to attend the classes. This situation was reported most emphatically by the newspapers like Danik Jagaran and Amar Ujala on 17.1.2004. The occurrence as earlier stated was of intervening night on 15/16 January 2004. This situation was still prevailing around even several days after. Then, there are beat reports and the enquiry report including the application made on behalf of the villagers by the Pradhan ated 17.1.2004. the enquiry report of the constable dated 18.1.2004 and the report of L.I.U. of the same day. All these indicate clearly that serious apprehension did persist in the village. These facts were reported by the District Magistrate categorically in the detention order. No challenge to these facts has been thrown by the petitioners. There is no averment disclaiming these facts in the petition.
(3.) Learned counsel for the petitioners Shri Manzrul Islam has addressed us against the detention order on three counts. 1) The offence does not relate to the public order. The grounds alleged in the ground of detention are flimsy and manipulated by the police who had shown keen interest in their detention. It purely and exclusively relates to law and order. We have applied ourselves seriously to the facts of the case and the contention so raised before us by learned counsel for the petitioners Shri Manzrul Islam: On a consideration we find that the allegations made in the detention order have substance. The brutality that was exhibited in committing the said offence by the accused person like giving sedative to the victims and tying them on the cot before causing their death by knives. The extreme precision that was adhered to in the commission of this offence by the accused persons and the precaution taken by them to keep the offence a secret has left a strong echo in the minds of the people of the village. The sedation of the victim is an exemplary circumstance indicating devilous mind of perpetrators. The villagers who inhabited the village where the incident occurred are human being sensitive and understanding. The circumstances would have well impregnated the seeds of fear and horror in their mind to the extent that it must have benumbed their limbs and they must have lived in extreme fear. The tranquility of the village was positively affected. The normal village life was badly damaged.;