New Delhi: A court on Thursday directed a Deputy
Commissioner of Delhi Police to transfer the probe relating to
a complaint of a woman accusing her husband of kidnapping her
daughter to a senior officer of the specialised wing.
Metropolitan Magistrate Vandana Jain also ordered that
the investigation into the case should be conducted by an
officer not below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police
(ACP).
The court, however, allowed a plea of the DCP (West)
seeking exemption from appearance on the ground of maintaining
law and order duty.
During the hearing, the court took a serious view of the
failure of the SHO of Police Station of Nihal Vihar to trace
the three-and-half-year-old child and directed that the
investigation should be conducted by a specialised wing like
Crime Branch.
The court had earlier issued a notice to the DCP on the
failure of the police to trace the child despite a search
warrant issued by it.
The ACP and SHO had earlier told the court that they had
registered the FIR invoking the provisions of kidnapping under
the IPC against Ravinder Singh, the husband of complainant
Avneet Kaur.
Kaur's counsel Deepak Kumar Sharma had alleged the police
were hand in glove with the accused and had failed to trace
the girl despite a clear-cut direction by the court on March
19.
He alleged they had lodged the FIR in the matter two
weeks after the court's direction.
Kaur, who married Singh on October 17, 2004, was living
separately from him following alleged harassment.
The court had earlier expressed its displeasure over the
"careless" manner of handling of such a "sensitive" issue by
the police which had even failed to secure a photograph of
the child to identify her.
In the plea, Kaur said she was forced to approach the
court as Nihal Vihar police station had failed to act on her
complaint.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, May 13, 2010, 19:16