Ex-Noida SHO took bribe to alter FIR, police say in chargesheet

Noida: Police have filed a chargesheet in a bribery and extortion case against former Sector 20 SHO Manoj Pant and four others, including three local reporters. Inspector Pant was caught red-handed inside the police station accepting Rs 8 lakh bribe from a call centre owner in January, after allegedly striking a deal through the reporters to remove the businessman’s name from an FIR.
While the first part of the 95-page chargesheet was filed at the anti-corruption court in Meerut on March 30, the second part was filed on April 1. Along with the statements of the witnesses, the chargesheet takes into account the source of the money, the report of the Forensic Sciences Laboratory (FSL) and a black Mercedes that was seized, police said. The luxury car was parked outside the Sector 20 police station and had been apparently driven there by Sushil Pandit, one of the accused reporters.

Interestingly, additional SHO Jaiveer Singh, who was suspended over suspected collusion with others in the case, does not find a mention in the chargesheet.

Rajeev Singh, the circle officer of Greater Noida III who is the investigating officer in the case, told TOI the chargesheet contains the statements of all the witnesses in the case, including circle officer I Kaustubh, the complainant in the “Operation Trap”, Pushpendra Chauhan, the call centre owner who approached the SSP against the alleged extortion demands made by the three reporters — Raman Thakur, Sushil Pandit and Udit Goyal — and independent witnesses nominated by the district administration.

“The main chargesheet has been filed against the four accused, including Pant and the three reporters. The fifth person, Jitendra, who was arrested later, has been named in the supplementary chargesheet. He was also found to be dealing on behalf of Pant,” Singh said. The chargesheet also notes that while the demand was for Rs 10 lakh, the final deal had been settled for Rs 8 lakh.

Asked why the former additional SHO was not named in the chargesheet, Singh said that his name did not come up during the “Operation Trap”.

Meanwhile, while the anti-corruption court in Meerut had denied bail to Pant and the three reporters, the family of Pandit said on Tuesday he was granted bail by the Allahabad HC.