Extortion case: Sacked Chandigarh cop approaches court for anticipatory bail

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Chandigarh, August 29

On the run for over 25 days, a sacked Sub-Inspector of the Chandigarh Police, Naveen Phogat, has applied for anticipatory bail before a local court.

Phogat, former Additional SHO of the Sector 39 police station, is allegedly the main accused in an extortion case involving over Rs 1 crore registered by the police on a complaint filed by Sanjay Goyal, a businessman of Bathinda, Punjab.

Apart from Phogat, other persons, including two constables, were also booked in the case.

Goyal, in his complaint, has alleged that Phogat and two other persons forcibly took Rs 1.01 crore from him which he had brought for currency exchange in a deal.

He said he, along with his driver, came to Mohali on August 4 with Rs 1.01 crore in Rs 500 denomination to exchange these with the notes of Rs 2,000 denomination. When he reached Sector 40, Chandigarh, three men, including one in police uniform, arrived there and took both to the police beat box.

They took his entire amount and threatened him with implication in a false case and asked him to leave.

Goyal said next day, he arrived at the Sector 39 police station for lodging a complaint where he identified SI Naveen Phogat. He took the complainant to his room and returned Rs 75 lakh.

On his complaint, the police registered an FIR against the accused under Sections 365 (kidnapping), 386 (extortion), 420 (cheating), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.

While two persons have been arrested in the case, Phogat has been at large since then. He escaped from the police station on August 5.

Meanwhile, Parveen Shah, brother of Rajveer, alias Sonu Shah, who was shot dead in his office in Burail in broad daylight in September 2019, has also applied for anticipatory bail. The police alleged that the constable deputed as personal security officer (PSO) of Parveen Shah was also involved in the case. However, Shah said he was not aware of the activities of the constable.