Shoddy probe into heist, Gurugram court raps cops

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

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Chandigarh, January 18

A Gurugram court has lashed out at the Special Task Force (STF) for being silent on the role of police officers responsible for supervising the investigation into the multi-crore heist involving several cops, including an SP-level officer, three doctors and gangsters.

The theft had taken place at a residential society in Sector 84 of Gurugram on August 4. The STF has so far recovered Rs 5.8 crore, gold and foreign currency.

The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Jasbir Singh observed, “There is complete silence with regard to the role of supervisory officers. This court in its previous order had deprecated the approach of the agency for being inert and soft when it comes to the examination of role of officers in covering up the heist.”

The court added, “The source of money and the purpose for which it was stored have not been traced.” The order, dated January 17, said, “The court’s power for ensuring a proper investigation stemmed from the power given under Section 156(3) CrPC. Further failure to do so shall be viewed seriously.”

In its previous order, the court had observed that as per the prosecution case, main players in the case were Dr Suchender Jain Nawal and gangster Vikas Lagarpuria. They had allegedly planned the heist, which was committed by the henchmen of Lagarpuria. Dr Nawal had allegedly provided information to Lagarpuria about the unaccounted money. For covering up the case, he reportedly involved IPS Dheeraj Setia, the then DCP Gurugram, and allegedly gave him a bag containing 3 kg gold and $135,000.

After the case hit the headlines, Setia returned the cash and gold to Dr Nawal, but allegedly kept $2000 for the help already extended in covering up the matter.

Dr Nawal had revealed the involvement of Setia on November 13, but the STF issued a notice to him on December 2. The court observed that Setia might “have exerted his influence upon his subordinates to twist the probe to make it appear a case of Rs 50 lakh theft”.

Money Source untraced

• Theft committed at a Gurugram residential society on August 4 last year
• A case of Rs50 lakh theft was registered on August 21
• STF recovered Rs5.8 crore, gold and foreign currency and made several arrests
• Then Gurugram DCP and IPS officer Dheeraj Setia’s name had surfaced in the case
• Was allegedly given 3-kg gold and $1,35,000 for cover-up
• Court rapped STF for failing to establish source of money and role of senior cops