CBI files chargesheets in two cases against Chandigarh Police officers

The chargesheets were submitted in the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMIC) Neelam.

Dentist abduction case

The FIR was registered nearly six months after the Supreme Court directed the CBI to conduct a preliminary probe into the alleged abduction of Dr Mohit Dhawan by Chandigarh Police personnel to prevent him from appearing in court.

The CBI booked seven Chandigarh policemen, including Inspector (Crime Branch) Harinder Sekhon, Sub-Inspector Suresh Kumar, Assistant Sub-Inspector Ajmer Singh, Head Constable Anil Kumar, Constable Vikas Hooda, Constable Subhash, and Constable Neeraj Kumar under section 365 (kidnapping or abducting someone with intent to wrongfully and secretly confine them) read with section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

A Sector 21 resident and dentist, Dr Dhawan, had alleged that he was abducted without any justification by the policemen from outside the district courts in Sector 43.

According to the complaint, Dr Dhawan had approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court, seeking anticipatory bail in a criminal case. The court directed him to appear before the district court.

On January 7, 2022, when Dr Dhawan reached the court premises, he was allegedly picked up by the Crime Branch Police team at the entry gate to prevent him from appearing before the court. The following day, the police produced him before the court and obtained a seven-day remand.

Dr Dhawan remained lodged in jail for nearly two months.

After securing bail, he moved the high court against the policemen. The high court directed the Punjab Police to form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter. However, the Chandigarh Administration challenged this order in the Supreme Court. In August 2024, the Supreme Court modified the high court’s order and handed over the investigation to the CBI.

Evidence tampering case

The CBI had registered an FIR following a preliminary inquiry against Chandigarh Police Inspector Ram Rattan Sharma and Sub Inspector Satyawan for allegedly benefiting an accused in a sexual harassment case.

The preliminary inquiry was registered based on the communication received from the office of the Chandigarh DGP, alleging misconduct and corrupt activities in the registration and investigation of some criminal cases by the Chandigarh Police.

According to the CBI, the inquiry found that an FIR No. 62 dated April 4, 2022, under sections 354, 354(d), 294, 506, 509, 384 IPC was registered against the accused at the Industrial Area police station in Chandigarh based on the complaint by a woman. After the registration of an FIR, the accused was arrested on April 4, 2022, at 10.10 p,m and his personal search was conducted by an S-I and one mobile phone, Apple iPhone 1,2 was seized.

The CBI said during the inquiry, it was revealed that the said investigation was transferred to Satyawan on verbal direction of Inspector/SHO Ram Rattan, and the previous SI handed over the police file along with the said seized mobile to Satyawan on the evening of April 5, 2022.

According to the CBI, the said mobile was not sealed as it was being used for the interrogation of the accused. Inquiry further revealed that Inspector/SHO Ram Rattan and SI Satyawan of the Industrial Area police station, in conspiracy with others, dishonestly replaced the seized mobile phone (i.e. iPhone 12), along with the SIM, to give undue benefit to him, the CBI said.

The CBI alleged that the accused, a UT policeman, returned the said mobile phone and the SIM card to the accused, and a different phone, which is an iPhone 7 without a SIM card, was placed on record of the case.

The accused police officers, thus, allegedly destroyed the original seizure memo dated April 4, 2022 and created a false seizure memo dated April 9, 2022, to justify their illegal acts, the CBI alleged.

The CBI inquiry revealed that on April 4, 2022, while at the police station, the accused was using an Apple iPhone 12, whereas the mobile iPhone 7 sent by the police to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) having different IMEI number and no SIM card.

After completing the investigation, the agency has now filed chargesheets in both cases.