Sayara Khatun v. The State Of Bihar Through The Principal Secretary, Home, Govt. Of Bihar, Patna

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

Criminal Writ Jurisdiction Case No.181 of 2026 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-145 Year-2024 Thana- MATIYARIA District- West Champaran ====================================================== Sayara Khatun, W/O Sadare Alam, R/O Village- Handa Dumra, P.S.- Matiyaria, Dist.- West Champaran, Bettiah.

... ... Petitioner/s

Versus

1.

The State of Bihar through the Principal Secretary, Home, Govt. of Bihar, Patna Bihar 2.

The Director General of Police, Bihar, Patna 3.

The Inspector General of Police, Bihar Patna 4.

The D.I.G. Bettiah West Champaran 5.

The Senior Superintendent of Police, Bettiah West Champaran 6.

Superintendent of Police Bettiah West Champaran 7.

S.D.P.O. Narkatiaganj West Champaran 8.

Station House Officer, Matiyaria, Police Station West Champaran 9.

Investigating Officer Matiyaria P.S. Bihar 10.

Badul Ansari Son of Late Gauni Ansari Resident of Village - Hauda Dumra, P.S.- Matiyariya, District - West Champaran, Bettiah 11.

Vajir Ansari S/o Late Isha Ansari Resident of Village - Hauda Dumra, P.S.- Matiyariya, District - West Champaran, Bettiah 12.

Saphed Ansari Son of Late Pheku Ansari Resident of Village - Hauda Dumra, P.S.- Matiyariya, District - West Champaran, Bettiah 13.

Jahir Ansari Son of Late Pheku Ansari Resident of Village - Hauda Dumra, P.S.- Matiyariya, District - West Champaran, Bettiah 14.

Shabnam Ansari D/o Taiyab Ansari Resident of Village - Hauda Dumra, P.S.- Matiyariya, District - West Champaran, Bettiah 15.

Jakir Ansari S/o Late Nurai Ansari Resident of Village - Hauda Dumra, P.S.- Matiyariya, District - West Champaran, Bettiah ... ... Respondent/s ====================================================== Appearance :

For the Petitioner/s :

Mr. Rajeev Kumar, Advocate For the Respondent/s :

Mr. P.N. Sharma, AC to AG ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SUDHIR SINGH and HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH KUMAR VERMA ORAL ORDER (Per: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SUDHIR SINGH)

2/5 26-02-2026 Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned counsel for the State.

2. Following are the reliefs sought for in the present writ application:- "(i) For issuance of appropriate writ/writs order /orders, direction/directions commanding the respondent no. 8 to find out my daughter in spite of the F.I.R. has been lodged. (ii) For issuance of appropriate writ/writs, order orders, direction/directions commanding the respondents and also no. 8 has still not taken any action against the FIR filed by the (Mother) petitioner on dated 23.12.2024 bearing no. 145 as the occurrence taken place on 20.04.2025 and also given several representation to Respondent no.4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 but still no action has been taken and well as the victim is still traceless.

(iii) For issuance of any appropriate writ/writs, order/orders, direction/directions to which the petitioner after lodging an FIR her daughter is still traceless and no any action has been taken by the respondent authorities."

3. A joint supplementary counter affidavit has been filed on behalf of the D.I.G., Bettiah, West Champaran (respondent no. 4) and the Superintendent of Police, Bettiah, West Champaran (respondent no. 6) respectively. Following statements have been made in paragraphs 9, 10 and 11 of the said supplementary counter affidavit:-

3/5 "9. That one of the FIR-named accused, Safed Ansari, son of Late Feku Ansari, was arrested and remanded to judicial custody. The Investigating Officer has submitted Charge Sheet No. 54/2025 dated 15.04.2025 against him before the competent court. The other FIR-named accused persons surrendered before the court and have been granted bail.

10. That the Investigating Officer proceeded with further investigation, during the course of which significant technical and documentary evidence was analyzed to trace the victim. As detailed in the Supplementary Case Diaries, the following specific actions were executed ('Supplementary Diary Para'

hereinafter referred simply as 'Para'):

A. Age Verification: As detailed in Para-34 of the Supplementary Case Diary, the Investigating Officer verified the educational records, which establish that the date of birth of the alleged abductee is 01.01.2006, and as such, she had attained the age of majority on the date of the alleged occurrence.

B. CDR & Technical Analysis: As noted in Para-43 of the Supplementary Case Diary, further analysis of the arrested main accused's (Safed Ansari) Call Detail Records revealed his mobile was active near the place of occurrence exclusively on 20.12.2024 and 23.12.2024. Additionally, as per Para-73, the CDR of a new suspicious mobile number (7310692856) was rigorously analysed, and a proposal for 'Parallel Listening' of family members'

numbers was initiated (Para-64) to intercept any communication.

C.

Aadhaar Tracking: As

4/5 recorded in Para-71, the Investigating Officer obtained the victim's Aadhaar Number (368492039836) and submitted it for verification through the Technical Branch of the Superintendent of Police's Office to track any recent biometric updates or usage across the country.

D. Financial Tracking: As per Para-114, verification of the victim's bank account details (SBI A/c No. 37540028198) and withdrawal statements was conducted, which revealed no suspicious financial transactions or activity since her disappearance.

11. That the progress of the investigation is being continuously monitored by the answering deponent. The Superintendent of Police, West Champaran, has reviewed the case and issued a Review Note contained in Memo No. 01/CR dated 01.01.2026, giving necessary directives to the Investigating Officer. The Investigating Officer has been instructed to intensify the search operations, utilize available intelligence, and take all possible lawful measures, including conducting raids at suspected locations, to ensure the safe recovery of the victim."

4. Upon perusal of the statements referred to hereinbelow, it transpires that the main accused named in the F.I.R. has already been taken into judicial custody and that other named accused have also surrendered and appeared before the trial court, however, the victim has not yet been recovered.

5. In such circumstances, the petitioner is granted

5/5 liberty to avail the appropriate statutory remedy by filing an application under Section 101 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, which reads as follows:- "101. Power to compel restoration of abducted females.- Upon complaint made on oath of the abduction or unlawful detention of a woman, or a female child for any unlawful purpose, a District Magistrate, Sub-divisional Magistrate or Magistrate of the first class may make an order for the immediate restoration of such woman to her liberty, or of such female child to her parent, guardian or other person having the lawful charge of such child, and may compel compliance with such order, using such force as may be necessary."

6. With the aforesaid liberty, the present writ application stands disposed of.

7. Pending application(s), if any, shall also stand disposed of.

(Sudhir Singh, J) (Rajesh Kumar Verma, J) Rajesh/- U T