Chandigarh: The Police Complaints Authority (PCA) has indicted three IPS officers for conducting a “shoddy investigation” to help the accused police officer AIG Ashish Kapoor to delay and obstruct the justice of the rape victim.
The PCA has recommended a re-investigation of the case by registering a fresh FIR.
Former DGP Siddharth Chattopadhyaya has been held guilty of not implementing the report of the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which gave a clean chit to AIG Ashish Kapoor, whom Poonam Rajan has accused of rape and extorting Rs 1 crore. The PCA has said that the SIT report was submitted to Chattopadhyaya 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).
Withdrawing from the SIT probe, PCA chairman IAS (retd) Satish Chandra has recommended re-investigation of FIR no. 151 dated May 5, 2018 against Poonam and her family members at zirakpur police station.
Poonam Rajan Singh and her three family members were wrongly convicted by the DeraBassi court in an FIR lodged at the behest of Ashish Kapoor, posted as AIG, Punjab Vigilance Bureau.
The four-member SIT, headed by ADGP Sharad Satya Chauhan, comprised ADGP Vibhu Raj, DSP Ramandeep Singh and Inspector Bhagwant Singh Riar. On the directions of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, all the four SIT officials and former DGP Chattopadhyaya have been asked to give their explanations within two weeks. If they fail to respond it would mean that they did not want to say anything in their defence.
The PCA has recommended the Jalandhar SP Jaskirat Singh to re-investigation the case. Kapoor was arrested by the Vigilance Bureau and is currently lodged in Patiala jail.