Four Chandigarh cops booked for helping sexual harassment accused
CBI lodges two FIRs against retired SP, three serving police personnel for helping a former executive director of a company
Probing into the 2022 sexual harassment case against Anil Malhotra, a former executive director of a prominent company, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday registered separate FIRs against four Chandigarh Police officers, including a retired superintendent of police and three serving inspectors, for doctoring evidence to help the accused.
The four police officers are facing allegations ranging from bribery, changing the seizure memo in the accused’s favour and illegally extracting phone details of the complainant in the sexual harassment case.
The CBI had initiated a preliminary probe into the matter on the directions of UT administrator Banwarilal Purohit.
It was this case that had also prompted the unceremonious repatriation of former Chandigarh SSP Kuldeep Singh Chahal to his parent cadre in Punjab in December 2022, 10 months before his three-year inter-cadre deputation was to end, amid allegations of delaying investigation into the case.
As the police were under the scanner for taking favours from the accused, a probe was marked to the CBI and the then SSP was repatriated to his parent cadre.
As per officials familiar with the probe, two FIRs were registered under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act on Thursday.
In the first, CBI had named inspector Ram Rattan, the current SHO of the Sector 31 police station and a resident of Police Cooperative Housing Society, Sector 51, and sub-inspector Satyawan, who lives in Baltana. The second FIR names retired superintendent of police (Communications) Roshan Lal, a resident of Sector 38 West, and inspector Pavnesh Kumar, residing in Sector 46.
CBI sleuths also conducted raids at the Sector 31 police station and residences of the accused on Thursday evening. The preliminary probe by CBI was initiated in January 2023.
Malhotra was accused of stalking, sexual harassment and blackmail by his co-worker, following which a case was registered against him in April 2022. In the FIRs lodged on Thursday, it has been alleged by CBI that SP Roshan Lal (retd) and inspector Pavnesh extracted the call details of the victim illegally so as to favour the accused.
Changes were also made in the seizure memo. Similarly, inspector Ram Rattan, who was then posted as the SHO of the Industrial Area police station, and SI Satyawan took undue favours from the businessman to help him in the case.