Pune land grab: High court issues show-cause notice to police officers

Irked by the manner in which the police is handling investigation in the Pune land-grab case, the Bombay High Court has issued show-cause notice to the investigating officers as to why action should not be initiated against them.

Irked by the manner in which the police is handling investigation in the Pune land-grab case, the Bombay High Court has issued show-cause notice to the investigating officers as to why action should not be initiated against them.

HT Image

A division bench of Justice B.H. Marlapalle and Justice A.V. Mohta on Thursday issued fresh notice to officers Rahul Yeole and Sandip Ghorpade asking them to file their reply within one week.

The court asked additional public prosecutor Prajakta Shinde to find out who were the police officers present in the Shivaji Nagar police station on December 29, 2008, when the alleged incident took place.

On December 29, 2008, some 50 goons, allegedly sent by corporators Deepak and Shivaji Mankar, ransacked the house of Poornima Prabhu in Shivaji Nagar, Pune. Her brother, Rajeev, was badly beaten up, and had to be hospitalised.

Congress corporator Deepak and Shiv Sena corporator Shivaji have allegedly been involved in land-grab cases there.

When Poornima called and informed Rajeev about some people ransacking her house, he called the police control room. The control room informed the Shivaji Nagar police, who reached the spot.

By then even had Rajeev reached there and the goons allegedly assaulted him too.

The police lodged a counter case of assault against the Prabhus on a compliant filed by Nilesh Pachande, Mankar’s driver.

Poornima’s affidavit in the high court alleges that there is no record in the police diary about the December 2008 incident. The Shivaji Nagar police informed the control room saying that it was a false compliant involving quarrel between landlord and tenant, alleges the affidavit.

Mankar, who is an accused in at least five land-grab cases, claims to have purchased the property in which Prabhus live, but they claim that they knew nothing about this transfer of ownership.