A Muzaffarnagar court has remanded the owner of a paper plate manufacturing factory, Ankit Balyan, to 14 days’ judicial custody in connection with the alleged murder of a bonded labourer at his unit. Balyan, the main accused in the case, was produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate Kavita Aggarwal on a B-warrant after being brought from a jail in Haryana, where he is lodged in an Arms Act case. The prosecution officer, K C Maurya, stated that the court sent Balyan to judicial custody for 14 days in the murder case.
Muzaffarnagar police had earlier obtained a B-warrant from the court to secure Balyan’s production in the case. Balyan had been absconding after the incident but was arrested by the Haryana Police in Palwal district on July 2 for allegedly possessing an illegal firearm and has since been lodged in Palwal jail. The police have altered the charge against Balyan from Section 105 to Section 103 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), invoking the provision related to murder, according to Maurya.
The case began on June 23 when the police raided the paper plate manufacturing factory in Mandi village under Titawi police station and rescued 12 bonded labourers allegedly being held there. During the investigation, police alleged that one of the labourers had been murdered at the factory. Three accused were arrested soon after the raid, while Balyan had fled.
He was subsequently arrested in Haryana, the police said. Further investigation into the case is underway.
