9 Gujarat cops booked over arrest of Ghaziabad man after wife moves court

GHAZIABAD: An FIR has been filed here against nine Gujarat Police personnel after the wife of a man they came to arrest approached a local court, accusing the cops of abduction.
The FIR was lodged at Vijay Nagar police station on Thursday.
On December 26 last year, a nine-member team from the Surat cyber cell allegedly came to the house of Devendra Gupta (45) in Sector 9 around 1am and told his wife, Monica, that they were taking him to Vijay Nagar police station for questioning.
When she asked why, the cops allegedly told Monica that a SIM card used to commit a Rs 75 lakh fraud in Gujarat was registered in the name of Gupta.
The FIR lodged after the court order mentions the names of Prithviraj Baghel, a senior sub-inspector at the Surat cyber cell, sub-inspector Maharaj Singh, head constable Indrajeet Singh, constable Kaushik and five others.
After Gupta was taken to the police station, Monica followed him and called her brother on the way. At Vijay Nagar police station, she found the cops beating up her husband, according to her complaint.
"We dialled the emergency number and told the cops that my husband was being tortured at the police station. A few cops arrived, spoke to the police team there and went back," the FIR states.
Around 2.30am, the cops allegedly asked Monica to return home and promised to release her husband the next morning. "I went back to the police station around 7.15am, but could not find Devendra anywhere. After asking around, I learnt that my husband had been taken to Delhi and he would be back by evening," the FIR adds.
Monica stayed put at the police station all morning, waiting for her husband to return. She also went to meet the DCP and ACP, but to no avail. She then wrote to the DGP in Lucknow, and marked copies of her letter to the human rights commission and women's commission.
She filed a PIL in a Ghaziabad court on January 3.
On January 4, the SHO of Vijay Nagar police station told the court that a cyber cell team from Surat had sought police support on December 26. He claimed the Surat police team took Gupta away without informing the local cops or following the due procedure of transit remand.
"Devendra is mentally challenged and is undergoing treatment. When he was taken to Vijay Nagar police station, Monica had repeatedly requested the cops to give him medicines, but they refused," said Bhavnish Gola, who represented Monica in court.
When the court sought CCTV footage, the SHO said cameras at the Vijay Nagar police station had been defunct since November.
"On February 15, the court ordered the SHO to register an FIR against the Surat cops. But he didn't. After two days, I filed a contempt petition in the court," the lawyer said.
It was only after the SHO was served a notice that an FIR was registered on Thursday.
A source in Ghaziabad police said Gupta was detained in Surat for two days and arrested after that.
Nipurn Aggarwal, DCP (city), told TOI that the nine Surat cops were booked under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 365 (kidnapping or abduction with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person) and 342 (wrongful confinement) of the IPC.
"We will contact the police in Surat for more information about the case," he added.