Cop Caught with a stolen vehicle, humiliated review of department orders.
Key sentence:
- The car was robbed from a car washing centre in the Barra area on December 31, 2018.
- On Wednesday, a few days ago, he received a call from the KTL service centre asking if his vehicle was running well after the service.
The owner of the vehicle, which was stolen two years ago, could hardly believe it when he got a call from a car service centre requesting his input. He was equally surprised to be informed by the centre that even after servicing, the vehicle had been returned to the station officer, Bithoor Police Station, Kaushlendra Pratap Singh.
Singh, one of the cops wounded in the Bikru ambush wherein eight policemen were killed last July 3 by gangster Vikas Dubey as well as his men, would have continued to use the stolen vehicle had he not taken the vehicle for service.
Omendra Soni, the owner of the car, said his car was robbed from a car washing centre in the Barra area on December 31, 2018. He also said that he had lodged an FIR with the Barra police, but it was not possible to locate the car.
On Wednesday, a few days ago, he received a call from the KTL service centre asking if his vehicle was running well after the service. “I was amazed at the query. Due to the previous service of my Wagon R, I was told my details were with the middle, which is why the call was put for input, he said.
“I went to the service centre where I was informed that the vehicle was returned on 22 December to SO Bithoor, Kaushlendra Pratap Singh after being serviced,” he added, wondering why the police haven’t informed him that his stolen vehicle had been recovered.
In his defence, Singh said that he had spotted the car abandoned after it was confiscated. He did not expand on the date because when the vehicle was discovered, however. He did not respond when asked if a police officer could use a confiscated vehicle as it was not allowable.
As per the procedures, the police of Bithoor should have told the police of Barra of the recovery of the vehicle. Nevertheless, Barra police reported that it did not receive any notification from Bithoor police.
Left red-faced, an investigation into the case was requested by the police brass. Mohit Agarwal, IG, Kanpur range, said using a seized car was against the law. The whole case would be looked into, and significant departmental action would be faced by those found liable.
