MAPUSA
The action of Mapusa Police in an NDPS case has come under scrutiny after a 22-year-old Goa University postgraduate student moved the High Court of Bombay at Goa to challenge and seek quashing of the FIR registered against him under the NDPS Act.
The student has alleged that he was abducted in broad daylight, unlawfully detained for several hours and later falsely shown as arrested in a staged anti-narcotics operation.
The High Court has asked the police to file an affidavit and scheduled the matter for further hearing on December 17.
The petitioner, Leonardo Deva, an MA English Literature student, has challenged FIR No 72/2025, registered under Section 20(b)(ii)(A) of the NDPS Act at Mapusa Police Station.
In his writ petition filed under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution, Deva claims he was forcibly taken into custody on May 4, 2025, at around 3.56 pm from outside a parcel service shop located opposite Mapusa Police Station.
To substantiate his allegations, Deva has produced 29 CCTV clips, which he says clearly show he was picked up in the afternoon – hours before the time recorded in the police version.
According to the petition, the footage purportedly shows two men confronting him, one of whom was later identified as Police Constable Anand Rathod, allegedly seen taking away his mobile phone before Deva is forced into a black Maruti Swift car.
He states he was then taken to the Karaswada Police Outpost, where he was detained without a written order, without being informed of the grounds of arrest and without being produced before a Magistrate.
Deva alleges that later that night he was transported to the Mapusa new bus stand, where Police Sub-Inspectors Ajay Dhuri and Mangesh Palni allegedly conducted a staged anti-narcotics raid, showing him as apprehended between 9.25 pm and 10.45 pm.
He claims he was threatened into signing pre-typed documents already bearing PSI Dhuri’s signature without being allowed to read their contents.
The petitioner has further alleged that his mobile phone and a Rs 200 note were planted in the pockets of his jacket to fabricate evidence, after which staged recovery photographs were taken.
Meanwhile, as his family could not reach him since the afternoon on that fateful day, his father filed a missing-person complaint at the Mapusa Police Station.
Deva contends that although police were aware of his custody, they withheld this information, violating Supreme Court-mandated safeguards for detainees.
He has also accused the police of violating Section 50 of the NDPS Act, stating he was not offered a search before a Gazetted Officer or Magistrate.
The petition also questions the credibility of the panch witnesses, terming them “stock panchas,” and highlights contradictions in the police timeline.
Deva notes that his motorcycle – on which he travelled to Mapusa – was retrieved by police from the site of his daytime apprehension, not from the bus stand where he was shown as arrested.
Though the alleged offence is bailable, his early bail pleas were rejected and he was released only on May 14.
Deva has sought quashing of the FIR, a halt to further investigation, return of his mobile phone and permission to submit CCTV evidence physically.
The High Court, after a hearing on November 13, directed Mapusa Police to file their affidavit. The matter will now be heard on December 17.
