Bid to implicate victims in false cases

Armed with power in their hands, the cops can misuse Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections as they wish thereby making or marring a case. In a bid to help the Pathak brothers and their wives in the merchant navy job scam worth crores, a section of influential police officers are reportedly trying their best to turn the tide in favour of the accused.

Armed with power in their hands, the cops can misuse Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections as they wish thereby making or marring a case.

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In a bid to help the Pathak brothers and their wives in the merchant navy job scam worth crores, a section of influential police officers are reportedly trying their best to turn the tide in favour of the accused.

Sources said, efforts were on by a section of police officers to implicate in false cases several complainants who had lodged cases of fraud and cheating against the Pathak brothers.

It may be mentioned that before this scam came to light on November 3, 2005, the Pathak brothers had lodged written complaints with the police against 13 young men accusing them of hurling abuses. These young men reportedly did so after suspecting the credibility of the Pathak brothers who had promised them job in merchant navy after taking several lakhs from nearly 300 aspirants.

When some job aspirants came to know that the Pathak brothers had returned Rs 2.50 lakh taken from a kin whom they had assured a job in the merchant navy but had failed, they too started demanding their money back.

Since cops at the George Town police station had themselves started  suspecting the credibility of the Pathak brothers they desisted from lodging the FIR against the aspirants. Instead they suggested the Pathak brothers to return the money to aspirants.

However, under pressure of some police officers the George Town police lodged cases under section 504 IPC ( hurling abuses) against 13 aspirants  despite the fact that the Pathak brothers had named only four aspirants in their complaint.

On investigation the charges of the Pathak brothers against the aspirants were found wrong. But due to 'pressure' the police put the blame on four aspirants declaring them  guilty under section 504 IPC in October 2005, a month before the scam surfaced.

While the area CO in this case gave his consent to the final report which was to be submitted to the court the dubious role of Pathak brothers made headlines.

The moment the Pathak duo got implicated in the scam and cases were registered against them, the lobby of senior cops helping them also became  active. Sources said, the lobby of police officers was now looking for ways to implicate more aspirants in the case and also to get some more IPC sections included to make the case stronger so that the Pathak brothers may be able to use the case as a tool in their hands to pressurise the aspirants to withdraw the cases against them.