Chopra assault case: Bengal court sends accused to 5-day police custody

A district court in West Bengal, on Monday, sent Tejemul a.k.a. JCB, a local Trinamool Congress leader and the prime accused in the public beating up of a woman at Chopra in North Dinajpur district, to five days of police custody.

JCB, who was arrested on Sunday evening, was presented at the district court and the public prosecutor asked for his 10-day police custody.

However, after a detailed hearing in the matter, the court remanded him to five days of police custody.

The district police have booked the accused under five sections of the earlier Indian Penal Code (IPC), which include two non-bailable sections and three bailable sections.

The sections have been invoked in the suo motu case registered by the district police on Sunday after a video went viral.

District police sources said that since the cases were registered on Sunday and the accused was also arrested on the same day, sections of the IPC had to be invoked since the three new criminal laws had not come into force then.

It is learnt that the two non-bailable sections under which the accused have been booked are Section 354 (punishment for assaults or use of criminal force to any woman, intending to outrage or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby outrage her modesty) and Section 307 (punishment for attempt to murder) of the IPC.

The three non-bailable sections under which he has been booked are Section 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) Section 325 (punishment for voluntarily causing grievous hurt) and Section 34 (punishment for criminal acts done by several persons with a common intention) of the IPC.

With inputs from IANS