ETO fake trap: Mohali court orders case against VB SP, four others

A Mohali district court on Friday ordered police to register an FIR against SP Amandeep Kaur, head constable Harminder Singh and three others on charge of "falsely trapping" an excise and taxation officer (ETO) in a corruption case who later committed suicide in April 2011.

Special judge-cum-additional sessions judge Rajinder Aggarwal, who pronounced the order in the court on the plea of the deceased ETO's wife Manjit Kaur, had last week rejected the anticipatory bail plea of the accused SP in the case.

Besides the two cops, the other three accused in the case against whom the FIR would be registered include traders Rajinder Singh and Rajiv Sud and one Paramjit Singh.

The court directed Mohali SSP Gurpreet Singh Bhullar to register the case as sought by the complainant under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 307 (abetment to suicide) and other sections related to criminal intimidation and forgery and framing of false evidence of the IPC, besides Section 7 (taking illegal gratification) and 13 (2) (criminal misconduct) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Earlier on July 20, the court had rejected the anticipatory bail application of SP Amandeep Kaur. She had moved the bail plea after the court had on July 11 issued notice to the SSP for not registering the FIR against her and the other accused.

The applicant's counsel Prabhjot Singh Walia had argued on July 11 in the court that the state had not done anything on this matter, following which the court had asked the SSP to reply.

The SSP filed a reply on Friday morning, citing a significant probe report that indicted the said five accused for the fake trap and recommended registration of the FIR against them. The SSP's reply was, however, silent on the main argument as to why the FIR had not been registered so far.

Meanwhile, the Punjab home secretary, DGP and VB director also faced a notice by Punjab and Haryana high court to explain why no action had been taken as per the recommendations in the inquiry report.

The next date of hearing in the case is October 3, 2012, as the state has so far failed to file reply in the high court.

The VB had arrested excise and taxation officer (ETO) Ranjit Singh in March last year on corruption charges. The ETO, who claimed that he was falsely implicated, had committed suicide in April 2011, soon after he was bailed out.

Later, the Punjab government had ordered a high-level inquiry into the matter. The probe had indicted two VB sleuths, SP Amandeep Kaur and head constable Harminder Singh.

The probe, conducted by IPS officer Harpreet Singh Sidhu and IAS officer Mansavi Kumar, had found that the frame-up was executed allegedly in connivance with Ludhiana-based traders Rajiv Sood and Rajinder Singh, who wanted to settle scores with the ETO.

The panel, in its report submitted to the state chief secretary in July last year, recommended immediate suspension of the guilty cops and registration of an FIR against them and the traders.

The ETO's widow, Manjit Kaur, had lodged a complaint in the Mohali court against the SSP and the SHO for neither registering the FIR nor taking any action against the guilty. The complaint was lodged in the court under Section 156 (3) of the Criminal Procedure Code, which pertains to a police officer's powers to investigate cognizable cases.