Five Gzb cops accused of extorting ₹32 lakh from MNC director’s kin to ‘settle bogus rape case’

Nimish Patil, depty commissioner of police, trans-Hindon, on Friday said five officers are presently facing departmental inquiry to ascertain their involvement in the matter

The director of an international shipping business, who spent 95 days in jail after being implicated in a bogus rape case, has alleged that certain senior Ghaziabad police officers attached with the case investigation extorted ₹32 lakh from his family in order to drop certain charges in the case.

DCP Patil also said that a confidential inquiry, conducted by two assistant commissioners of police, revealed that the rape case itself was a false one, allegedly foisted on the firm director with the intention of extorting money from him. The woman complainant and three of her family members have been arrested on charges of extortion, he said. (HT Archive)

Nimish Patil, depty commissioner of police, trans-Hindon, on Friday said five officers are presently facing departmental inquiry to ascertain their involvement in the matter.

Patil also said that a confidential inquiry, conducted by two assistant commissioners of police, revealed that the rape case itself was a false one, allegedly foisted on the firm director with the intention of extorting money from him. The woman complainant and three of her family members have been arrested on charges of extortion, he said.

Patil said the firm director had to spent about 95 days in Dasna jail after being arrested in the rape case. He later met senior police officers, including the commissioner of police, and pleaded with them that he was being framed. Finding merit in his plea, the police chief ordered a reinvestigation by a special investigation team (SIT), which found that the rape case was bogus.

The DCP said the firm director has also alleged that certain officers attached with the case investigation allegedly extorted about ₹32 lakh from his family to drop certain sections in the rape case.

“There are five officers who handled the case investigation at different times. A departmental inquiry is already underway against them to ascertain their roles. We are now trying to find out the money trail as alleged by the director,” Patil said.

The man, a resident of a high-rise in Indirapuram, said the complainant woman was his former employee and she resigned without assigning any reason in April 2022. Later, she implicated him in a rape case.

“The woman resigned in 2022 and I accepted her resignation. She was in the accounts team. On February 1, 2023, her father called me up and demanded ₹5 crore; else he threatened to lodge a case of rape against me. I informed the then SHO of Kaushambi police station about the extortion attempt but no action was taken. The FIR for rape from Burari, Delhi, got transferred to Kaushambi in March 2023 and the Ghaziabad police added three more sections of 313 (non-consensual miscarriage), 328 (causing harm by way of poisoning etc) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of Indian Penal Code. These were added to implicate me without any evidence,” the man said.

The man said he showed his passport to the police, which showed that he was in Thailand during one of the four instances of rape alleged by the woman.

“In the three other instances, my location and that of the woman were not the same. However, these evidences were overlooked and I was arrested on March 19, 2023. After that, the investigation officers extorted about ₹32 lakhs from my family. About ₹3 lakh was transferred to the account of one person,” he said.

One of the confidential inquiry reports, submitted by an ACP in October 2023, details the role of three police officers and also that of the woman who electronically tried to spy on the director and his wife in their flat.

“I have also complained to the director general of UP Police. The annual turnover of my company was about ₹150 crore and it reduced to about ₹40 crore even since I was framed for rape,” the man said.

Reacting to allegations, DCP Patil said the “evidences so far are insufficient to prove the extortion allegation against the officers and the matter is being looked into. “We do not know about the other police officers so far. Action against policemen will be taken up once the departmental inquiry is over,” he said.