City court pulls up Delhi Police for shoddy probe in 2007 murder case

Highlighting the shoddy probe, the court pointed out that the officers posted at the Kamla Nagar Police Station at the time did not bother to register an FIR in the matter despite the postmortem examination report showing injuries on the neck and head, indicating a homicidal death

A city court pulled up Delhi Police for its alleged laxity in the investigation of a man’s murder in 2007, observing that “dereliction of duty in a case involving loss of human life cannot be tolerated”.

The court was hearing a case wherein a man, in his early 30s, was found murdered under suspicious circumstances in a drain in central Delhi’s Kamla Market, on July 30, 2007. (FILE)

The observations were made by Judicial Magistrate First Class Bharti Beniwal of Tis Hazari Court on July 8 while dealing with a case wherein a man, in his early 30s, was found murdered under suspicious circumstances in a drain in central Delhi’s Kamla Market, on July 30, 2007.

Police are yet to identify the accused in the 18-year-old case and file an untraced report before the court.

Highlighting the shoddy probe, the court first pointed out that the officers posted at the Kamla Nagar Police Station at the time did not bother to register an FIR in the matter despite the postmortem examination report showing injuries on the neck and head, indicating a homicidal death.

“Despite such glaring facts, and the fact that an inquest was conducted, no steps were taken by the local police to register a case or initiate any investigation,” the judge remarked.

Further, the court said that the statements of four witnesses showed that the deceased was employed at Mohan Hotel in Ajmeri Gate and was murdered there. The judge also observed that the body was shifted to a nearby drain by the accused persons in a bid to hide the body, which constituted a clear case of commission of a cognisable offence, “yet no action was taken by the concerned police officials”.

“Shockingly, despite having sufficient material, including statements, postmortem findings, and scene of crime information, no FIR was ever registered by the then SHO or ACP concerned,” the order, released on Thursday,read.

The court noted that an FIR was registered only in 2016, after the then SHO, who was posted between June 2016 to July 2017, stumbled upon an inquest proceeding of the deceased while perusing through police station records.

“Even after registration of the FIR, no steps were taken by the police to even visit the witness/suspect…the FIR was a mere formality,” the court stated.

Terming the conduct of the police officials posted at the Kamla Nagar Police Station at the time as “highly suspicious”, the judge remarked that the same showed either wilful inaction or a deliberate attempt to shield the culprits. “Such a dereliction of duty in a case involving loss of human life cannot be tolerated,” the court said.

Citing the lackadaisical investigation, the court issued a notice to DCP (Central) to apprise the court of all the SHOs, Inspector (Investigation) and ACPs posted from the time of the death of the decided till the registration of the FIR.

The court also marked the order to the Joint Commissioner of Police (Northern Range) to take stringent action against the erring police officers and investigate any possible collusion by the officers posted at the time, in suppressing the case.