In December, the court had asked the Special Task Force (STF) to trace the source of money along with the purpose for which it was stored. (Representational) A district court Tuesday granted permission to the Haryana police Special Task Force (STF), which is probing a multi-crore heist case in Gurgaon, to question suspended IPS officer, Dheeraj Setia, in presence of another accused, who had named him in a disclosure statement to the police.
Setia was granted interim bail by The Punjab and Haryana High Court on February 24. IPS officer Dheeraj Setia, who was posted as a DCP in Gurgaon at the time of the theft and against whom the Prevention of Corruption Act has been invoked, was suspended on December 10, 2021, after the court had put under scanner allegations of bribery against him. In a disclosure statement to police, the alleged mastermind, Dr Suchender Jain Nawal had said that he had handed over a bag containing 3 kg gold bricks, 1,35,000 US dollars and Rs 62, 000 (total value of Rs 2.5 crore) to Setia at his house for covering up the case in September 2021.
In an order on Tuesday, the Additional Sessions Judge, Amit Sahrawat, said, “The investigating officer has merely sought the permission of the court to interrogate Dheeraj Setia, one of the accused, in confrontation with another accused Dr Suchender Jain Nawal. Hence, this application is allowed and the investigating officer Surinder Singh, STF Gurugram is permitted to confront Dheeraj Setia with Dr Suchender Jain Nawal at district jail premises on any working day between 9 am and 5 pm.”
The investigating officer of STF Gurgaon had moved an application for issuing the production warrant of Dr Nawal, who is lodged in jail, or for granting the permission in alternate to confront him with Setia.
“It is submitted in the application that Dheeraj Setia has denied his involvement and he is required to be confronted with Dr Suchender Jain Nawal, who has suffered a disclosure statement implicating Dheeraj Setia,” the court said.
On February 14, while dismissing the anticipatory bail petition of Setia, the district court had said that this was not a simple case of cycle theft but a multi-crore burglary.
“The extent of influence exercised by him over his subordinates to hush up the case may not be scaled unless the petitioner is interrogated…If the gangsters and the dacoits visit the office and residence of DCP with bags having Rs 2.50 crore to get hushed up the case, then the poor man of this country should certainly go to some deity to pray for his survival,” the court had said.
The theft, reported on August 21, 2021, was initially suspected to be of Rs 50 lakh. Police probe so far has found that on the intervening night of August 3 and 4, 2021, at least Rs 30 crore was stolen from the office-cum-flat of Alpha G Corp Management Services Pvt. Ltd in Sector 84, Gurgaon.
In the initial FIR registered at Kherki Daula police station, the complainant, Santosh Singh, an employee of Alpha G Corp Management Services Private Ltd. maintaining project Gurgaon One, Sector 84, had not mentioned the amount stolen. In a supplementary statement on August 26, 2021, the complainant stated that Rs 50 lakh was stolen.
According to a chargesheet filed by STF, three representatives-cum-employees of the complainant company had recorded their statement before the police under section 161 CrPC in which they had said that their company was intending to purchase a property measuring 3 acres at Sector 28 Gurgaon and for that purpose, a cash amount of Rs 30 crore had been kept at their company office.
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