SIT never probed extortion allegation against AIG, gave him clean chit in custody rape case

In the letter, Chandra has sought comments by October 14 as to why allegations of extortion were not looked into by the SIT.

The allegations of rape and extortion against Kapoor were leveled by a woman inmate with whom he had got acquainted while being posted as superintendent of Amritsar Central Jail. The woman subsequently approached the SPCA alleging inaction. To probe the matter, then state police chief had constituted the SIT on January 20, 2020 (with an order to include a woman officer) in connection with an FIR, which was registered at SSOC police station in Mohali in May 2019.

Chauhan did not respond to calls and text sent to him for his comments.

Sources tell that SPCA has called members of the SIT and the VB officials to take a call on whether it should first wait for the bureau’s investigations against Kapoor to be completed or ask the SIT to conduct probe into allegations of extortion against him. It has been learnt that the SPCA chairman has written a letter to Punjab VB asking it to send an officer privy with the details of the case it registered against Kapoor. A VB official confirmed as much.

The SPCA chairman, while referring to the complaint it received regarding the “delay in conclusion of investigation” against Kapoor and others, in the letter to Chauhan said, “There were two main allegations in the complaint….that of custodial rape and extortion of money. The SIT enquired into the allegations of custodial rape only and a closure report has been recommended to the court. However, no enquiry was conducted into the allegations of extortion.”

The SPCA chief further sought to know why allegations of extortion were not looked into by the SIT and whether a separate investigation was warranted. “Accordingly, you are requested to attend the (SPCA) office…on 14.10.2022 in person or depute Smt. Vibhu Raj, IPS, with details/written comments of the SIT,” wrote Chandra, retired as Additional Chief Secretary (Home).

The previous Congress government led by Capt Amarinder Singh had constituted the SPCA and appointed Chandra as its chairman.

While Chauhan-led SIT has recommended “closure report”, as pointed by SPCA, the investigation carried out by then Inspector General Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, who was posted in Organized Crime Control Unit (OCCU), is a picture in contrast. Kunwar Vijay was entrusted by the state Home Department to investigate an FIR registered in May 2019 at State Special Operations Cell (SSOC), Mohali, in a case related to torture, unnatural act and extortion of certain prison inmates by notorious gangsters in active connivance of the officers of Patiala Central Jail. Four jail officials, including then Patiala Jail Superintendent Rajan Kapur, were dismissed from the service following the probe.

The woman inmate, who was also lodged in Patiala jail at that time, volunteered to complain against Kapoor. Kunwar Vijay noted in his enquiry report that “she disclosed about the instances when Ashish Kapoor misused his position (as Amritsar Jail Superintendent) and raped her in custody in Amritsar jail.” Kunwar Vijay pointed out: “He used to rape her in his office and threaten her with dire consequences citing his post. Later on, he started offering her favors also. He got her bailed out from the case which was registered against her. He continued his relations with her after she got bailed out. Ashish Kapoor used to hide his corruption money at her Kurukshetra home.”

Kunwar Vijay also noted that Kapoor gave the woman Rs 1.5 crore to buy a house in Gurgaon. “This money was deposited in the account of her mother to pay as legal money to buy the house. She was using the debit card of the salary account of Kapoor in Karnal and Kurukshetra,” Kunwar Vijay noted in the report submitted to the Home Department.

The then IG also alleged that Kapoor tried to “put undesirable influence upon me through certain officers of police and civil department apart from some judicial officers and also some politicians and private persons. He also tried to politicize the issue, but since the matter was in the notice of jails minister, he could not succeed in his endeavor. Then he tried to do lobbying in the police department against me and to some extent got success also as he was able to garner undue support from the good office of the BOI (Bureau of Investigation).”

Kunwar Vijay further said that he “also received threat from anonymous criminal elements” asking him not to pursue the matter.

While submitting the probe report to Additional Chief Secretary, Home, on October 21, 2019, Kunwar Vijay, while citing the facts and circumstances, wrote, “I refrain from giving opinion in the matter” and recommended “if the competent authority reposes trust in the ongoing process of fair and impartial investigation being conducted by the OCCU team under my supervision; I may be allowed to continue with the investigation; or the entire matter be entrusted to the CBI for investigation afresh; the matter be closed in entirety and left on the God’s grace, in want of natural justice”.

Kunwar Vijay also appended details of money trail involving family members of complainant woman, putting under scanner Kapoor’s alleged involvement, as a transaction had details of money transfer from his salary account. He also noted that there was “scam in scam” and Kapoor during his stint as AIG in VB “extorted huge money” in irrigation scam and GMADA (Greater Mohali Area Development Authority) scam, both dating back to 2017.

Kapoor’s lawyer Pardeep Virk has said allegations of rape and extortion were leveled against the IPS officer “one and a half years after his stint as Amritsar Jail Superintendent and when he was serving as AIG VB”. Virk has said that the matter was pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Hailing from Jalandhar, Kapoor joined the Punjab Police as Inspector in 1993. He subsequently served as Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) in Punjab, apart from a stint as DSP in Union Territory of Chandigarh.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court in October 2020 had quashed the dismissal orders of Rajan Kapur and the three other jail officials. Kapur is currently under suspension.