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Journalist made false claim of loot: Police
Noida The Noida Police on Friday claimed that senior journalist Atul Agrawal, who claimed to have been looted at gunpoint by assailants in Greater Noida west on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, had lied about the incident
Noida The Noida Police on Friday claimed that senior journalist Atul Agrawal, who claimed to have been looted at gunpoint by assailants in Greater Noida west on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, had lied about the incident. Agrawal, the editor-in-chief of Hindi Khabar channel, however, stuck to his claims, adding that he doesn’t want to comment on “the police theory”.
Pointing to his call detail records (CDR), route map and CCTV camera footages, deputy commissioner of police (Noida central) Harish Chander and additional DCP Ankur Agarwal, addressing a press conference, said that there were discrepancies in the events described by Agrawal. Police also claimed Agrawal was at a guest house in Noida when the alleged incident took place.
In a social media post on Monday, Agrawal claimed that five persons on two motorcycles robbed him of ₹5,000-6,000 when he stopped his car about 300 meters from Rise police check post, when he was returning from office to his home in Supertech Eco Village in Greater Noida west at around 1am. He had claimed that the robbers returned his phone and car as they came to know that he was a senior journalist.
“First, Agrawal had narrated the incident in a Facebook post (on Monday) almost 23 hours after the incident. The police team reached the spot after getting the information and called him but he refused to come to the crime spot,” Chander said.
Later, on Monday evening, Agrawal visited Bisrakh police station and narrated the incident, but again refused to file a complaint, police said.
Police, however, took suo motu action and registered a case against unknown suspects under IPC section 392 (robbery).
According to police, at 7 pm on June 19, Agrawal had visited a friend for dinner in Noida’s Sector 45. “He had left Sector 45 when his wife called him to come home. His friend informed police that Agrawal had called last at 1.20 am but did not talk of any incident of loot,” Chander said.
Addl DCP Ankur Agarwal said that five teams were formed to investigate the matter. “We recreated the crime scene and found a mismatch of evidence and allegations. Agrawal had claimed that he was passing through Rise police check post when he stopped to plug his pen drive to play music in the car at 1 am. However, Agrawal’s call records and CCTV footage showed his car passed through Rise police check post at 10.53pm. He reached home soon after,” he said.
Police said Agrawal again left home again after midnight, and his car was spotted at 12.40am near the ATS roundabout in Greater Noida. He crossed Charmurti roundabout at 12.53 am and then reached a guesthouse in Noida Sector 121, they added.
“He checked in there at 1.07am and checked out at 11.46am as per CCTV camera records and the visitors ledger at the guest house. It is unlikely that he was robbed on the way since the Rise police check post and the guest house are not in the same direction from Charmurti,” ADCP said.
Chander said that police will collect more information and, if the allegations are found to be false, expunge the FIR. “We will inform the court about the matter,” Chander said.
When contacted, Agarwal said that the incident posted on Facebook was true. “I had stayed in the guest house alone. I work in media and I need to travel at night. I did not file a complaint then as the suspects are free and I feared for my safety. I do not want to comment on police theory,” he said.
