Top cop tells Vigilance: probe the probe

Paul orders Department to submit independent report, study role of officers

Three days after Delhi High Court ordered the police chief to explain what went wrong in the Jessica Lall murder probe, Commissioner K K Paul has asked his Vigilance Department to submit a report on all officers involved—and their role in the investigation.

Sources said the ‘‘independent’’ report—to be submitted within a week—will bring under the scanner the entire probe team: Amod Kanth, DGP, Arunachal Pradesh, Sudhir Yadav, Additional Commissioner (Security), Vivek Gogia, SSP (Headquarters), Chandigarh, and Surinder Sharma, SHO (Hauz Khas).

The Vigilance Department, headed by Joint CP Anil Kumar Sinha, will essentially study and list lapses, if any, committed by each officer, the sources added.

On Friday, a division bench comprising Justices Vijender Jain and Rekha Sharma took suo motu cognizance of media reports on the acquittal of all nine accused and directed police to submit a status report within four weeks—the next hearing comes up on April 19.

In 2002, Paul had conducted an internal inquiry into the probe, which pointed to various lapses, including alleged tampering of evidence.

Reacting to Paul’s call for a fresh report, Jessica’s sister Sabrina Lall told Newsline: “How else will the Commissioner answer the court when he had himself pointed to the collusion between the accused and police officials in his 2002 report? He has to ask the questions. He might know some of the answers but let’s see what he gets from the report he has asked for.”