KANPUR: A probe has been ordered after station house officer (SHO) of Bithoor Kaushlendra Pratap Singh was found to be in possession of a car stolen two years ago.
The incident came to light after its real owner received a call from an auto service centre seeking his feedback with regard to its recent servicing.
To recall, Kaushlendra Pratap Singh, was one of the cops injured in the Bikru ambush, in which eight policemen were killed by gangster Vikas Dubey and his men on July 2-3 last.
Omendra Soni, a resident of Barra and the owner of the Wagon-R car, who runs an advertisement agency, said his vehicle was stolen from Barra area from a car washing centre on December 31, 2018.
He said though he had lodged an FIR with the Barra police but the vehicle could not be found.
On Wednesday, he got a call from a service centre inquiring if his vehicle was running fine after the service was done a few days ago.
“It was really surprising, when I was asked by a service centre employee on the basis of chassis number of the vehicle, to give a feedback regarding servicing of my Wagon-R car stolen two years ago from a service centre in Barra on December 31 2018”, said the vehicle owner and added, “I then visited the service centre where its staff told me that after its servicing, the vehicle was returned to SO Bithoor, Kaushlendra Pratap Singh on December 22.”
“What puzzled me was why the police, despite having recovered my vehicle, did not inform me or the Barra police where a complaint in this regard was lodged by me in 2018,” he said
According to police sources, SHO Bithoor Kaushlendra Pratap Singh told his seniors that he had found the car abandoned near the Pulses Institute near GT Road on December 14 after which it was seized and brought to the Bithoor police station.
“During an emergency, the vehicle was recently used by the police station staff. As it had developed some snag, the staff sent the vehicle to a service centre. After the snag was repaired, the staff took the vehicle to Bithoor police station,” the sources further said.
SSP/DIG Preetinder Singh said,”One cannot use a seized vehicle as it is a violation of law. A circle officer has been asked to conduct a probe and submit its report. Those found responsible would face serious departmental action.”