Uttarakhand State Police Complaints Authority recommends action against two officers in Subhashnagar bungalow demolition case
PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE /Dehradun
In a major development in a five-year-old property dispute case, the Uttarakhand State Police Complaints Authority has recommended disciplinary action against two police officers including the then Dehradun senior superintendent of police for alleged negligence. The case is related to the demolition and looting of a bungalow in the Subhashnagar area of Clement Town.
The authority has recommended action against the then SSP Janmejaya Khanduri and Station House Officer (SHO) Narendra Gehlawat. The report has been sent to the government. The complainant, Kusum Kapoor, a resident of Arya Society in Subhashnagar, had accused the police of colluding with the land mafia and not taking action in time. According to the complaint, her family has been living in the society for the past 25 years. She lived there with her mentally challenged and unmarried daughter Tina Kapoor.
The complainant said that the legal owner of the property is her grandmother, who lived in Germany. On January 7, 2022, she had gone to Noida for medical treatment. Taking advantage of her absence, some people allegedly started loading valuable items, documents, jewellery and awards-trophies related to the armed forces into trucks from the house. At about 8 PM, her daughter Preeti Khatur informed her that the house was being looted. Her husband Anand Khatur called the then Clement Town SHO Narendra Gehlawat and informed him about the situation. However, it is alleged that no serious effort was made to stop the looting and vandalism. The bungalow, which was built around 1930 during the British era, was badly damaged in the incident.
Preeti Khatur said that the people involved in the incident took about three hours to reach Dehradun from Noida and the vandalism in the house continued. According to the complaint, the looting and destruction went on for nearly 10 hours. After examining the complaint, the authority found negligence in police action. It said the police failed to take immediate legal steps to stop the looting and demolition. The authority has recommended disciplinary action against the then police officers involved in the case.
