DGP orders inquiry against Amreli SP, 3 cops transferred

Ahmedabad: Gujarat DGP and head of police force Vikas Sahay on Tuesday ordered a departmental inquiry against Amreli SP Sanjay Kharat and transferred three cops, including two police inspectors and one sub-inspector, in an alleged case of arresting a woman and parading her in public for allegedly drafting and circulating a fake letter defaming an MLA.
After receiving the report of the State Monitoring Cell (SMC) on Tuesday, Sahay announced a complete revamp of the local crime branch, citing their callousness in duty. The inquiry against Kharat was ordered after Kharat's negligence came to the fore, sources said. LCB police inspector A M Patel was transferred to Kutch (West) and PI Cybercrime A M Parmar was shunted to Vadodara. LCB PSI Kusum Parmar was shunted to Vadodara rural.
The action came nearly a month after the DGP ordered an inquiry into the case by the SMC. The inquiry was initiated after the victim, Payal Goti, a computer operator from Amreli, was named.
Four people were arrested in the case in Amreli for allegedly attempting to defame MLA Kaushik Vekariya on social media. According to police, BJP worker Manish Vaghasiya allegedly used a fake letterhead, signature and stamp of complainant Kishor Kanpariya, president of the Amreli taluka panchayat, to spread messages on social media with the intent of tarnishing Vekariya's image.
Amreli SP Sanjay Kharat had stated Goti allegedly assisted in typing and printing the content on Kanpariya's letterhead, converted it into a PDF file and circulated it on WhatsApp and other social media platforms. Apart from Vaghasiya and Goti, sarpanch Ashok Mangroliya and his associate Jeetu Khatra were also arrested for allegedly sharing the PDF on WhatsApp despite knowing that it was fake.
However, Goti claimed in her application that she was wrongfully picked up by the cops at midnight on Dec 27.