The matter was taken into consideration by the senior UT authorities and the file was brought to the notice of UT Administrator V P Singh Badnore. (Representational Image)
The long wait of 27-year-old Wasim Malik, to get the gang rape case lodged against him in December 2016 withdrawn, will finally get over as the union territory home department has given its approval for the same. “Malik’s file was pending in the home department, which gave a green signal. After consent from senior authorities and taking a legal opinion, the approval has been given to withdraw the prosecution sanction against Wasim Malik,” confirmed a senior police officer.
As per police sources, the file for withdrawing the case against Malik was sent to the home department in the last week of April after the Chandigarh Police gave a clean chit to him in the case. This after Chandigarh Police arrested auto driver Mohammad Irfan on March 13, 2018, in a different rape case, while Malik was undergoing trial. His accomplice and cousin, Kamal Hassan, was arrested a day later. Although they were arrested in the case of raping a Dehradun woman in November 2017, during their interrogation, they confessed to have raped a call centre employee in December 2016, of which Malik was accused initially by the police.
The matter was taken into consideration by the senior UT authorities and the file was brought to the notice of UT Administrator V P Singh Badnore.
Another senior UT police officer told Chandigarh Newsline that now the file has reached the office of the Director General of Police at the headquarters. After the approval by the home department, Chandigarh Police has been asked to take further steps for the completion of the legal process. Chandigarh Police will now submit the file in the district court.
Malik, a resident of Sector 52, is currently out on bail. The Chandigarh Police have already filed a supplementary chargesheet in the 2016 gang rape case against the two accused under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code. The police have also attached the Test Identification Parade (TIP) and DNA reports of both the accused. The DNA reports of both the accused have matched with the swabs taken from victim’s clothes, while she has identified the duo in the TIP.