Gurgaon fake arms licence case: Audio clip of cop negotiating with accused’s family out

A complaint, along with audio clip, was submitted by Bhardwaj, who is out on bail, to Gurgaon police commissioner Sandeep Khirwar on Thursday.

In a fresh twist to the Gurgaon fake arms licensing scam, an audio clip has been submitted to the police in which the wife and the mother of main accused Manish Bhardwaj can be purportedly heard negotiating a deal with a Gurgaon police officer to weaken the case against Bhardwaj. The trio is allegedly heard discussing the minutiae of the case.

A huge cache of weapons and cartridges was recovered from prime accused Manish Bhardwaj’s house upon his arrest in February 2017.

A complaint, along with audio clip, was submitted by Bhardwaj, who is out on bail, to Gurgaon police commissioner Sandeep Khirwar on Thursday.

In the audio clip, the two sides can allegedly be heard negotiating the exchange of money and the two women purportedly complaining about how police “were always looking to fleece them in lieu of favours”. The face-to-face conversation was allegedly recorded by the women.

The Gurgaon police said the allegations levelled by Bhardwaj were being taken seriously but will be investigated for veracity.

The fake arms licence racket was unearthed by the Gurgaon police in February 2017 and the police arrested Manish Bhardwaj, the prime accused, and recovered a large number of weapons and cartridges from his house. Bhardwaj and several of his associates connived with officials of the licensing branch of the Gurgaon police to provided fake arms licences and weapons to several people in Delhi and NCR in lieu of hefty sums.

Five officers of the licensing branch, including chief inspector Jasmer Singh, were suspended in the case.

In the clip submitted to Khirwar, the two women are allegedly heard telling the officer that he had to help Manish.

“You consider her (Manish’s wife) as a daughter so you must save Manish. Also please help us in getting the Audi car released from court (sic),” the complainant’s mother allegedly told the officer.

The officer is also allegedly heard making disparaging remarks about senior crime branch officials.

In the complaint submitted to Khirwar, Bhardwaj has alleged that after his arrest from Chandigarh, he was taken into custody by the special investigation team (SIT), which severely tortured him and kept him naked in the police station.

“I was beaten up at the Sadar police station and my health deteriorated. I was taken to a hospital. I was made to pay more than ₹30 lakh to the SIT members and I had to give my Audi car and cash to gangsters in jail, who worked in connivance with jail officials,” Bhardwaj in his complaint said.

“A complaint has been received in this matter. It will be inquired into to ascertain the facts,” Khirwar said.

Police sources said the matter has been referred to DCP, headquarters, Deepak Gahlawat and a forensic evaluation of the audio clip will be done to check the veracity of its contents.