Pradeep Kumar Trivedi said that he been searching for his son for the last six months and travelled to four states looking looking for him.
Taking cognizance of a letter-petition over the disappearance of a BHU student, who was last seen at Lanka police station on February 12, the Allahabad High Court has sought a reply from the Varanasi district police chief, district magistrate and the SHO of the police station, directing them to file a reply by August 25.
In the letter-petition sent to Chief Justice Govind Mathur, lawyer Saurabh Tiwari stated that 24-year-old Shiv Kumar Trivedi, a student of BSc (second year) at Banaras Hindu University, had gone missing on the night of February 12 this year. He was picked up by “certain police personnel from the amphitheatre ground of the BHU and was taken to the Police Station Lanka, District Varanasi”, it added.
Shiv Kumar’s father, Pradeep Kumar Trivedi (50), told The Indian Express that he had filed a missing person’s complaint at Lanka police station on February 16, but the cops then did not inform him that his son was brought there the night he disappeared.
“It was only after my son Uma Shankar started a campaign to find his brother, a BHU student Arjun Singh told us that he had called the emergency number (112) on the night of February 12 after finding Shiv Kumar unwell and told them about him. Arjun Singh also gave us the event ID, which is assigned to a PCR call,” said the father, who is a farmer and lives in Panna district in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh. He said that he been searching for his son for the last six months and travelled to four states looking looking for him.
Circle Officer (Bhelupur) Amresh Singh confirmed that the police had received the missing complaint on February 16. “The father had lodged a missing complaint at Lanka police station. We started working on the case and got posters and pamphlets published. We passed on the information to all the departments and conducted searches at a local level. Later, it came to light that a report was filed for Shiv Kumar on the 112 helpline. The person who made the call said that he looked mentally challenged. Kumar could not tell us where he lived. The police officers thought that he was mentally challenged and if someone comes to the police station and recognizes him, he will be taken away. The next day, he left the police station on his own.”
“We have till now, found no trace of him,” the officer added.
Shiv Kumar’s brother, Uma Shankar Trivedi, who studies at Delhi University, said that his brother had no history of mental illness.In the letter-petition, the father has alleged that the police initially denied that his son was at Lanka police station.
“But after production of proof of dial 112 call detail, the police accepted that Shiv Kumar Trivedi was in Lanka, Police Station,” the letter stated, adding the that policemen are “tight-lipped” on the matter.
The Bench of Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Samit Gopal will hear the matter on August 25.