Ahmedabad: Four police personnel from Chandkheda were suspended on Tuesday for allegedly providing luxury facilities to an accused in an attempted murder case inside the lockup.
The accused, Anuj Patel, a land broker from Sola Science City locality, had been arrested for allegedly knocking down a policeman with his SUV, then driving for about a kilometre with another cop hanging on to their vehicle's half-open window on Saturday night.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 2) Shreepal Shesma confirmed the action against three cops from the PI personnel squad and the PSO. The DCP suspended Harichandra Singh, Kiritsinh, Pannalal and Bharat Chaudhary after finding the accused individual enjoying comforts in the lockup.
Shesma, during a surprise visit to the police station, found Patel enjoying "home-like" comforts. "The accused individual was provided with a pillow, mattress, and razai to sleep. He also had cash on him inside the lockup," said Shesma.
The DCP said that he asked the PSO about it and was told that three cops had given the facilities to Patel. Shesma denied finding any financial transactions between the accused and cops in exchange for those services. When asked if the PI would face any inquiry, the DCP said that the Chandkheda PI was at home during the night and was not responsible for it.
According to an FIR filed with Chandkheda police, Patel tried to knock two cops down with his speeding car at Tapovan Circle during a police check. An FIR was filed by Nitesh Ramji, a constable with Chandkheda police, stated that when they tried to flag down Patel, who was in a dark grey SUV, he sped up and tried to hit him. He also tried knocking down Ramji's colleague Raymal Pana, who too had tried stopping the speeding SUV. When Patel did not stop, Pana latched on to the vehicle's side by grabbing the half-open glass of the driver's window. The FIR also states that Patel's wife kept laughing and telling her husband to speed up. Patel allegedly kept swerving the vehicle to shake off Pana and drove on the internal roads of a residential society. He drove for nearly a kilometre and stopped only when a truck suddenly came in front of him, causing Pana to fall on the road and suffer severe injuries, the FIR states.
Patel and his wife were arrested and charged with attempted murder, causing grievous hurt to a public servant, abetment, and assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from performing his duty.