The High Court of Tripura issued show-cause notice to the Tripura government seeking a clarification on a writ petition filed by former MLA and veteran Congress leader Gopal Roy complaining unauthorized police search in his residence by about 200 policemen on April 5 this year during lockdown in reference to a casual allegation.
Roy, alleged not less than 200 police personnel under the leadership of 12 officers of all three police stations of Agartala raided his residence, a day after of filing an FIR against him for using National Emblem affixed letterhead for writing a letter to chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb regarding dismal COVID-19 situation.
The complaint accused him of misusing the National Emblem, as he was not an elected representative.
‘Huge contingent of Tripura police trespassed into my residence’
He apprised the court, amid the threats of spread of COVID-19, a huge contingent of police trespassed into the residence and he was refrained to have any communication with the outer world. “I was literally put under a siege and senior colleagues of Congress were also not allowed to meet me at that point of time despite my repeated request that I belonged to the vulnerable age group as per of COVID-19 protocols,” he said.
Roy’s advocate Purosattam Roybarman mentioned in the court: “Defying COVID-19 restrictions, hundreds of people gathered at his residence and the sudden Tripura police raid over three hours that had harmed him psychologically and he felt mentally tormented.”
Referring to the police’s seizure memo and prayers moved at the Judicial Magistrate First Class followed by the FIR, he said, after getting the FIR filed, Tripura police moved a prayer seeking permission to conduct a search operation at Roy’s residence. The court did not find anything promising to issue a warrant and fixed the matter for hearing on the following day.
However, the police conducted the raid on the day itself and on the next day, the court had rejected the prayer and categorically said that it found nothing in the submissions made by the police for granting search warrant permission, Roybarman added.
