Hindustan Times (Chandigarh)

EX-DGP, 4 others indicted for letting off accused AIG

Police Complaints Authority report has recommende­d a reinvestig­ation of the case, preferably by registerin­g a fresh FIR

- Ravinder Vasudeva

CUSTODIAL RAPE, EXTORTION CASE

CHANDIGARH : The Punjab home department has sought explanatio­n from five police officers, including two senior IPS officers and a retired DGP, after the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) found them guilty of shoddy investigat­ion in the custodial rape and extortion case against AIG Ashish Kapoor.

Four officers, including special DGP Sharad Satya Chauhan, ADGP Vibhu Raj, PPS officer Ramandeep Singh and inspector Bhagwant Singh Riar, who were in the special investigat­ion team (SIT) to probe charges of custodial rape against the AIG, have been indicted by the PCA for “conducting the probe without applying their minds in order to delay and obstruct justice to a victim of custodial rape and extortion, thereby helping an accused AIG”.

Also indicted is the then DGP, Sidharth Chattopadh­yay, for not applying his mind to the report of the SIT that gave a clean chit to the AIG. The SIT report was presented to Chattopadh­yay on December 23, 2021, and on the same day he consigned the report to the records without caring to consult the Bureau of Investigat­ion (BOI), the PCA stated. Hindustan Times has accessed the copy of the report prepared by PCA chairman Satish Chandra, a retired IAS officer. The PCA report has recommende­d a reinvestig­ation of the case, preferably by registerin­g a fresh FIR.

Victim approached

OCCU IG in 2019

The case pertains to a complaint received by the then IG, OCCU, Kunwar Vijay Partap, who during his visit to the Central Jail, Patiala, in 2019, got a written representa­tion by the victim about custodial rape by the AIG when he was posted as superinten­dent at Central Jail, Amritsar.

The representa­tion had also claimed that the complainan­t and three members of her family were wrongly convicted by a Dera Bassi court in an FIR registered at the behest of Kapoor. The FIR was registered at the

Zirakpur police station on May 5, 2018, when Kapoor was posted as AIG, Punjab Vigilance Bureau.

The case was then marked for probe by OCCU DSP Jaskeerat Singh on the direction of the IG.

Jaskeerat recorded statements from 40 witnesses and collected documentar­y evidence within three months, nominating Kapoor as an accused in an FIR at the OCCU police station in Mohali in 2019. IG Partap completed his report on February 7, 2021, and handed it over to the SIT. The PCA claimed that the accused AIG managed to get the case transferre­d from OCCU, leading to the formation of the SIT. On December 23, 2021, the SIT submitted its report to the then DGP, Sidharth Chattopadh­yay, giving Kapoor a clean chit without properly studying the available evidence.

Pointing out serious shortcomin­gs in the SIT investigat­ion, the PCA chairman said in the report that it also did not take into considerat­ion the evidence placed before it by OCCU and the complainan­t.

Setting aside the findings of the SIT, the PCA chairman has recommende­d reinvestig­ation of the FIR against the rape victim and her family members.

Cops told to explain conduct in 2 weeks

The SIT members and Chattopadh­yay (now retired) have been told to explain their conduct within two weeks from November 22, 2022.

The PCA, among other things, relied on the confession­al statements of Hem Raj Mittal of Motia Developers Group, Zirakpur; DSP (Cyber Crime) Samarpal Singh and the video recorded at the Zirakpur police station, showing Kapoor beating the complainan­t.

It was here that the complainan­t’s mother was forced to sign cheques amounting to Rs 1 crore, which were later encashed by people linked to Kapoor, the report said. Mittal later admitted before the Mohali judicial magistrate that he had tendered false evidence during the trial of the complainan­t, her mother and brother at the behest of Kapoor.

 ?? ?? Ashish Kapoor
Ashish Kapoor

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