Patna: The Patna high court, expressing concern over 14,500 missing children in Bihar and a two-month delay in lodging an FIR over the alleged lifting of an infant from a private clinic in Biharsharif, has asked the state govt to post “sensitive” station house officers (SHOs) in all police stations. It also ordered regular assessment of their approach to handling sensitive human trafficking cases.The court directed Nalanda SP Hriday Kant to remove the concerned SHO from the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the infant-lifting case and act against those allegedly coercing the infant’s father to withdraw his police complaint.A division bench of justices Rajeev Ranjan Prasad and Sunil Dutta Mishra issued the directions on Tuesday while hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Avinash Kumar. A copy of the order became public on Thursday.The bench also took note of the Nalanda SP’s statement that inter-state or inter-district gangs involved in child lifting, forming part of human trafficking syndicates, could not be ruled out.Citing data presented by the state DGP at a conference on juvenile justice laws on Sept 12, the court stressed the need for anti-human trafficking cells to function in every police station.During the hearing, Avinash alleged that Biharsharif police station SHO Samrat Deepak had repeatedly threatened to implicate him in criminal cases for the next 10 years.Petitioner’s counsel Rajeev Saxena said it took almost two years for the Nalanda DM to cancel the licence of the clinic/maternity care home where the infant was allegedly stolen. “Whatever police and administrative actions which have been taken are only after the orders passed by high court,” Saxena added.The matter will be heard further on Oct 7, when the Nalanda SP will appear through video conferencing with updated investigation reports.
