Agartala, May 08, 2026: Allegations of police stations refusing to register complaints from victims once again came under sharp judicial scrutiny after the Tripura High Court took serious note of alleged unlawful conduct by the East Agartala Police Station in a case involving assault and custodial violence.
Hearing a writ petition filed by Ratna Roy, a Division Bench of the Tripura High Court comprising Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao and Justice Biswajit Palit observed that the police had acted unlawfully by refusing to register a case despite specific allegations being made by the complainant.
Advocate Purushottam Roy Barman, appearing in the matter, informed the Court that on April 4, a group of miscreants allegedly entered Ratna Roy’s residence in the Banamalipur area and assaulted her son, Saikat Roy. When Saikat’s parents attempted to intervene, they too were allegedly attacked.
According to the petition, the accused persons then forcibly dragged Saikat Roy to the East Agartala Police Station, where he was allegedly subjected to further assault. The petition further alleged that injuries were inflicted on his private parts while inside the police station premises.
Subsequently, on April 6, Ratna Roy approached the East Agartala Women Police Station to lodge a formal complaint. However, the police allegedly refused to register the case. Despite informing the Director General of Police and the District Superintendent of Police about the incident, the family reportedly failed to get an FIR registered, prompting Ratna Roy to move the High Court.
During the hearing on Wednesday, the High Court expressed concern over the refusal to register the complaint and directed the State Government to submit a counter-affidavit in the matter. The next hearing has been scheduled for May 12.
In a significant direction, the High Court also instructed the Chief Judicial Magistrate of West Tripura district to immediately visit the East Agartala Police Station, collect CCTV footage recorded between April 4 and April 6, and take the recordings into judicial custody. Following the Court’s order, the CCTV footage was collected from the police station on Wednesday.
The petition further alleged that the incident stemmed from a dispute linked to ongoing construction work at Ratna Roy’s residence. According to the complaint, Rabindranath Ghosh, an employee of the Agartala Municipal Corporation, had allegedly halted the construction work through the intervention of a task force and demanded ₹2 lakh. When the money was not paid, Rabindranath Ghosh and his associates allegedly assaulted Saikat Roy.
The case has triggered fresh debate over accountability within the police force and the repeated allegations of refusal to register complaints despite clear legal obligations under criminal law.
