Gurgaon top cops fight it out over rape case investigation

Sumedha Sharma

Tribune News Service

Gurgaon, September 29

The fight between the Gurgaon police top brass came out in the open today with Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Bharti Arora and Commissioner Navdeep Singh Virk holding separate press conferences, accusing each other of misconduct in connection with the probe into a rape case registered in the city.

In a letter written to the DGP earlier this month, Bharti Arora has accused Virk of mentally torturing, harassing, threatening and spying on her. Today, she demanded a CBI inquiry against Virk. Virk, however, said the charges against him were “absolutely false, baseless and motivated with an intention to malign my reputation”.

At a press conference this morning, Bharti showed the 23-page inquiry report into the said rape case, copy of her complaint to the DGP and the official mail sent to the Commissioner that were allegedly forwarded by him to the victim. The conference turned dramatic when Bharti caught two policemen (one from the CID and another from the CP office) and accused them of spying on her during the event.

“I don’t know what the Commissioner’s vested interest in this case is and why he is trying to frame an innocent man and his family. I was asked to conduct an inquiry into the case and scrutinise the files by the DGP office. The inquiry report revealed that the police worked in a malafide manner putting all laws and procedures at stake,” she alleged.

“Right from day one, the Commissioner was hell-bent on clamping charges on the accused. When I resisted, he started conspiring to tarnish my image. He, along with the victim, may have sent complaints to the DGP, but the fact that I was not removed from the inquiry made it clear  that I was not wrong. I fear he will harm my career and that is why I have complained to the DGP,” she said.

Within 30 minutes, Virk also held a press conference and said he was ready for any inquiry into the case. “The case of rape which is the focus of allegations was registered on July 26, 2014, and the accused was arrested on July 28, 2014. Both these events took place several months before I joined as the Police Commissioner, Gurgaon, on November 23, 2014. Action in other related matters was also taken on merit. It was Arora who was found guilty of misconduct during the inquiry and a complaint in that regard had been sent to the DGP,” he said.