The Jharkhand High Court pulled up the police in connection with an alleged social and economic boycott of members of the Paharia community, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group, in the state’s Sahibganj district, The Indian Express reported on Sunday.

The court said the allegations pointed to serious violations of constitutional rights and observed that a “parallel administration” appeared to have been allowed to function unchecked for months.

The court made these observations while rejecting the anticipatory bail pleas of three men accused in the case, the newspaper reported.

According to the first information report registered in March, members of the Paharia community were celebrating Holi with music when a group of men allegedly arrived armed with lathis and sticks, forced the music to be stopped, threatened villagers and abused a woman using caste-based slurs.

The perpetrators are also alleged to have warned that the community could not celebrate its festivals and told shopkeepers, doctors and others not to provide them with food, medical treatment or water, The Indian Express reported.

The FIR was registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act.

In its order, the court noted that the alleged boycott went far beyond the initial incident.

Statements in the case diary indicated that shopkeepers were threatened with fines of Rs 10,000 for selling ration to Paharia families, doctors were warned against treating them, children were stopped from attending schools and anganwadi centres, and access to government water taps was blocked.

“A government well was allegedly damaged to stop the community from drawing water, leaving families on the verge of starvation for days,” the newspaper quoted the court as saying.

The three persons seeking anticipatory bail, however, claimed that they were not named in the FIR and claimed the matter had been resolved. However, the court dismissed their joint compromise petition.

It observed that even ten months after the FIR was lodged, none of those mentioned in the case had been arrested, and termed this a case of “complete negligence” by the investigating officer and senior police officials in Sahibganj.

The court directed the deputy commissioner and superintendent of police of Sahibganj to immediately ensure the safety of the Adivasi community and restore access to basic amenities.

It also ordered the director general of police and the state Home Department to monitor compliance and ensure the supply of food grains, drinking water and other essential services, The Indian Express reported.