Ludhiana court junks pre-arrest bail plea by ex-SHO in rape case

The Court of Additional Sessions Judge Aashish Abrol has dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of Sahibmeet Singh, former Station-House Officer (SHO), in a rape and criminal intimidation case involving a female police inspector.

The case was registered at the Dakha police station on the complaint of the female inspector.

The court observed that the allegations against the accused were serious, and that his custodial interrogation was required to unearth facts and facilitate the investigation. The court also noted allegations that the accused had allegedly got the complainant’s pregnancy aborted several times.

According to the prosecution, the FIR was registered on July 23 under Sections 376 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on the statement of the female inspector.

She claimed she met Sahibmeet Singh in 2023 and was invited to Grand Marry Villa at Mullanpur, where she was offered a soft drink. The complainant alleged that after consuming the soft drink, she lost consciousness. According to the complaint, she found herself naked on regaining consciousness and alleged the accused had established physical relations with her forcibly.

The woman alleged the accused had made obscene videos of her and threatened to release them, along with threats of “eliminating her” with a licensed pistol. Taking advantage of the alleged videos, the accused allegedly continued physical relations with her.

The woman alleged that the accused threatened to show the videos to her husband if she did not get a divorce from him.

The defence contended the relationship between the accused and the complainant was consensual and relied upon voluminous chats exchanged between them. The court, however, held that the nature of the relationship — whether consensual or amounting to rape — was a matter of trial. It observed that the chats had yet to be established through cogent evidence and that it was premature to conclude that the relationship was consensual.

The court dismissed the bail application, observing that custodial interrogation of the accused was necessary. The order was pronounced on August 14, 2026.