Caught on the backfoot,police defend action in hit-and-run case

However,scores of mediapersons who had thronged the house of the accused Sukhmani Brar in Sector 36 soon after the incident on the night of August 17,had seen that the house was not locked.

The police team had returned empty-handed after knocking on the door and did not question anyone inside the house. The grandfather of the accused,Colonel Brar,had spoken to mediapersons then. After 18 hours since the accident,the accused surrendered in the Sector 3 police station. Surprisingly,in the reply,the SHO does not mention the time he conducted the raids on the houses of the accused.

The police had also not taken any action against Colonel Brar who misled the media,saying his driver was in the car and not Sukhmani.

Later,he made a U-turn and said he was sorry for whatever happened and had brought his niece Sukhmani to the police station to surrender.

Defending the action,the SHO told the PCA,“The police party rushed to the houses in Sector 9 and Sector 36-A,but both houses were locked. All sincere efforts were made to nab the accused,but it was not fruitful. The accused was arrested on August 18,” he claimed.

The SHO went on to say that neither the complainant nor any one had alleged that the accused had consumed alcohol or taken any other drug substance. The accident took place due to rash and negligent driving,hence the girl was booked under Sections 279/337/304-A IPC.

“The FIR was not registered under Section 304 IPC as the girl had no intention to kill any body”,the SHO’s reply stated.

Two persons on a scooter — 22-year-old Sukhwinder and five-year-old Harpreet— had lost their lives when hit by a rashly driven car near Chandigarh Club on August 17. The accused was arrested a day later and the police had imposed Section 304 A of the IPC (causing death due to negligence),a bailable offence.

A man who was on his bicycle and had witnessed the incident had claimed the girl was racing her car with another vehicle when the accident took place.

Advocate H C Arora,who filed a complaint before the PCA had said it was a case of culpable homicide not mounting to murder (304 IPC) which was not bailable and that the police was going soft on the accused.

During today’s hearing,Advocate Arora sought adjournment for filing a rejoinder to the reply of SHO and the case would now be listed for arguments on October 19.

During questioning,the SHO told the authority that investigation was complete and that chargesheet would be put up before the court in a day or two.