Patna, Jan. 24: For Bhup Narayan Singh, a retired officer of Bihar administrative service, there is finally some light at the end of the tunnel.

He was awarded Rs 50,000 as compensation on January 20 by the state human rights commission for being arrested in an “inhumane manner”.

Singh, an octogenarian resident of Bahadurpur Housing Colony, was arrested on December 16, 2008.

A police team led by former assistant superintendent of police Siddharth Mohan Jain raided his house, apparently in search of Singh’s son Pramod Kumar, who had a case pending against him since 2006.

Singh informed the police that neither his son nor his daughter-in-law resided with him. But the men-in-uniform threw him into the police van and took him into custody. He claims the police showed him no warrants, to justify their action.

He was produced in court on December 17, 2008 and remanded to Beur jail. After spending 10 days in judicial custody, he was granted bail.

The former senior superintendent of police also submitted in court that Singh was arrested in execution of a warrant in case number 702 (c)/07 in the court of Deepak Kumar, first-class judicial magistrate.

Singh lodged a complaint with the state human rights commission, seeking justice.

The commission issued a notice to the state government through the principal secretary of the home department and to the director-general of police seeking clarification.

After the officials submitted their reports, an oral hearing was scheduled on October 19, 2010. But it was adjourned to December 14.

Both Singh and Jain appeared in court but no verdict was passed, as there was no representation from the government.

Jain filed a written defence on December 15, claiming he was carrying out a special drive to close long-pending cases, on the orders of seniors. He also claimed that what he had done was in the line of duty and not out of a personal grudge.

“But what was the need to carry out the arrest in such a manner?” said S.N. Jha, the chairperson of the state human rights commission.

“What was the need to carry out the raid in the middle of the night? Singh was not absconding or evading arrest, nor was he a proclaimed offender. He has no criminal antecedents and though the police had a warrant to arrest him, they could have done it in a civilised manner. Even a proclaimed offender or a terrorist has some human rights that cannot be denied. Raiding the house of an elderly person in the middle of the night is outrageous,” said Jha.

Jha added though Jain was only performing his duty, he can be held responsible for the physical and mental anguish that Singh underwent.

The commission has given the government two months to submit their report.