Notice issued to MHA & Jharkhand Government on arrests made under POTA in Jharkhand

The National Human Rights Commission has taken suo-motu cognizance of a press report alleging misuse of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) in the State of Jharkhand.





According to the report in The Times of India of 20 February 2002, nearly 200 people had been arrested under POTA for ‘supporting Naxals’, including a 12-year-old boy, Gaya Singh and 81-year-old Rajnath Mahto. In total, about 10 children have been arrested under POTA, according to the report.





The report alleges that the social profiles of the arrested, as prepared by the police, show that most are farmers, students or daily wage earners. State Home Secretary J.B. Dubit reportedly justified these arrests saying, “POTA does not specify that students providing information to Naxal groups can be exempt from arrest,” according to the press report. Further, a senior police official from Ranchi is alleged to have said: “Anyone caught with a copy of the Communist Manifesto or Mao’s Red Book becomes a suspicious character. We then watch him and often find clinching evidence.” According to the All India Peoples’ Resistance Forum, an NGO, POTA was being used indiscriminately against ordinary citizens in the State.





On 20 February 2002, the Commission issued notice to the Chief Secretary, Government of Jharkhand, the Director General of Police, Government of Jharkhand, and to the Secretary Ministry of Home Affairs, seeking reports from them. They have been asked specifically, to comment on the cases of 12-year old Gaya Singh and 81-year old Rajnath Mahto.