Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: A 22-year-old postgraduate student from Goa University has approached the Bombay High Court at Goa seeking to quash an FIR filed against him under the NDPS Act, alleging unlawful detention and a staged anti-narcotics operation by the Mapusa Police.
The petitioner, Leonardo Deva, an MA English Literature student, has challenged FIR No. 72/2025 registered at Mapusa Police Station under Section 20(b)(ii)(A) of the NDPS Act. In his writ petition filed under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution, Deva claimed he was forcibly taken into custody on May 4, 2025, at around 3:56 pm from outside a parcel service shop opposite the Mapusa Police Station.
Deva has produced 29 CCTV clips to support his claim, asserting that the footage shows him being confronted by two men, one later identified as Police Constable Anand Rathod, and being forced into a black Maruti Swift, hours before the time listed in the police record. He says his mobile phone was seized during this encounter.
According to the petition, Deva was taken to the Karaswada Police Outpost, where he was detained without a written order, without being informed of the grounds for arrest, and without being presented before a Magistrate. Later that night, he alleges he was moved to the Mapusa new bus stand, where Sub-Inspectors Ajay Dhuri and Mangesh Palni allegedly staged an anti-narcotics raid, showing him as arrested between 9:25 pm and 10:45 pm.
Deva claims he was coerced into signing pre-prepared documents and that his mobile phone and a Rs 200 note were planted in his jacket to fabricate evidence, with staged recovery photographs taken. His family, unaware of his whereabouts, had filed a missing-person report at Mapusa Police Station.
The petition also raises violations of Section 50 of the NDPS Act, noting that Deva was not offered a search before a Gazetted Officer or Magistrate. He questioned the authenticity of panch witnesses, terming them “stock panchas,” and highlighted discrepancies in the police timeline. He added that his motorcycle was recovered from the site of the alleged daytime abduction, not from the bus stand where the arrest was reportedly staged.
Although the alleged offence was bailable, Deva’s early bail pleas were rejected, and he was released only on May 14. He has requested the court to quash the FIR, halt further investigation, return his mobile phone, and permit him to submit CCTV evidence physically.
The High Court has directed the Mapusa Police to file an affidavit, with the next hearing scheduled for December 17.
