Patna, Nov. 3: Muzaffarpur police, which had booked a three-month-old boy for alleged robbery and extortion last September, today dropped the case against the infant.

The police had registered an FIR against Praveen Kumar, along with his father Shashi Kant Rai and one Pappu Kumar Rai of Nehalpur, for reportedly looting a private bus near Meenapur on September 22.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar, who had taken a strong exception to such “police ignorance”, had asked the authorities concerned to clear the infant of the charges at the earliest.

Nitish today told the reporters: “There will be an investigation against people who were responsible for the mistake. Police must verify identities before naming anybody in a case.”

The chief minister has already had the blushes earlier after the Bhojpur and Rohtas lower courts pulled up the police for wrongly hauling up children for offences.

Meanwhile, inspector B. Ram, who had mistakenly filed the FIR against Praveen, will have to explain why he did not ensure the identity and age of the child before lodging the complaint.

Muzaffarpur superintendent of police Ratna Sanjay said: “This case is a lesson for all investigating officers, who, from now on should be more careful.”