Court raps cops for DDA probe

Calling police investigations a shoddy piece of work, a city court granted bail to an accused arrested for forging an identification proof in the DDA scam, reports Sumit Saxena.

Calling police investigations a shoddy piece of work, a city court granted bail to an accused arrested for forging an identification proof in the DDA scam.

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Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Dig Vinay Singh said, “A comparison of the original election I-Card recovered and the alleged photocopy submitted in the bank by the other accused in the DDA scam, cannot at all be called a scanned copy. There is lot of difference in the two documents which creates doubt that it is a scanned copy.”

The judge also referred a copy of the order to the additional commissioner and deputy commissioner (Economic Offences Wing), and asked them to look at the conduct of the investigating official, who despite framing the charges against the accused failed to collect evidence in the case.

The police have alleged that Dinesh (accused in DDA scam) took his original election identity card at Satbir’s printing press, and then the original card was scanned.

“Satbir scanned the I-card and a forged I-card was prepared in the name of Rajiv, son of Jasbir Singh. Later, Deepak Kumar and Dinesh used this card in opening a forged account in Punjab & Sindh Bank, Paschim Vihar Branch,” said police.

The court upheld the defence argument stating that no scanner was recovered during the investigations. “Without any concrete evidence, the police wrongfully implicated Satbir in the scam. He has no role in the DDA scam,” said Vijay Aggarwal, defence counsel.

The court noted that police recovered computer hard disc from the printing press, but till date there is no record of the scanner used for preparing election card.

“The investigating official, during arguments, stated when raid was conducted, the scanning machine was stated to be sent for repair. But no such entry was made in the investigations record,” said the judge.

The court noted that keeping in view the nature of evidence collected by investigating officer, till date, at this stage it is difficult to say that accused is involved in the conspiracy.