Dehri sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Mohammad Shahid was taken aback on Tuesday when two minors were produced before him seeking bail.

Two brothers aged eight and 12 were booked for breach of peace at Berki village in Rohtas on Tuesday. The incident occurred under the jurisdiction of Nauhatta police station, around 150km west of Patna.

The SDM sought to know from Nauhatta police station house officer (SHO) Arun Kumar Akela as to how the eight-year-old could pose a threat to peace.

Their father, Brahmadeo Choudhary, and uncle, Ashok Kumar, were also booked under Section 107 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). The section deals with breach of peace and tranquillity in an area.

The SHO said the younger brother’s name would have been deleted from the chargesheet after investigation.

“I am not going to divulge anything to you on the issue. If someone’s name figures in the FIR, it doesn’t necessarily mean that one has committed the offence,” the SHO told reporters. He added that neighbours Brahmadeo and Ram Lakhan were at loggerheads for quite sometime and their children had recently fought a pitched battle.

The SDM issued an order to delete the eight-year- old’s name from the list of the accused.

The elder brother was released on bail. The minors study in classes III and VI of a government primary school at Bekri (Chapla).

Satya Narayan Singh, the counsel for the accused, said an FIR was lodged against the four on the basis of the statement of Ram Lakhan Choudhary, who alleged that the four hurled abuses and assaulted him following a dispute on March 18 this year.

“We have been shuttling between the court and the police station for the past three months for justice. However, no officer came to rescue my sons, who have been made named accused despite being minors,” Brahmadeo, a farmer, said.

Brahmadeo alleged that his sons had been falsely implicated in the case and were being harassed by the police. “The police used to harass my family on one pretext or the other,” he added.

Around six years ago, an eight-year-old resident of Bhagwanpur village in Begusarai was accused of killing his one-year-old cousin with a brick. His co-villagers later described him as a “mini serial killer” for his involvement in two other such incidents.