Solving crime,Lucknow cops style: arrest,show confessions and release

In the last one year,the police had to release as many as 15 such persons and filed applications in court admitting that they had failed to find evidence against the “accused” who had been named in heinous crimes like murder,attempt to murder and offences under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

While the Hazratganj police had to release 10 such persons,the Talkatora police released three,and Ashiana and Madioan police one each.

In the latest instance,the Gomti Nagar police have filed an application for the release of three persons who,they claimed,had committed a daylight murder-cum-robbery. The court will hear the case next week.

The case involves the murder of Dau Dayal Rastogi,a businessman,who was shot on November 30 while he was on way to a bank in Hazratganj to deposit Rs 8.4 lakh. After shooting at him,the criminals had escaped with the bag containing money.

Within a few days,the police arrested three men — Amit Gupta and Neeshu from Kanpur,and Laxman from Lucknow. Claiming that they have solved the case,the police said the three have confessed to having killed and looted Rastogi. But two months later,on February 18,the police arrested three others — Raj Kumar,Danish and Ravi Kant — from Cantonment area and said that the trio was the real culprit behind the murder-cum-robbery incident. The police said they have arrived at this conclusion after “verification of information given to them during questioning”. The police also claimed that Rastogi’s driver,who was present at the crime spot,had identified them.

“We have moved the application to release the three men who were arrested earlier,” said Akshay Kumar,in-charge of Gomti Nagar police station.

So on what basis were the first three persons arrested? Was any forensic test done on the firearm seized? Whether they tracked the looted money? The police have a simple answer to all these questions: They had confessed.

The cases that fell flat

Charges dropped after ‘negotiations’
* On January 23,the Hazratganj police requested the court to release 10 government employees who were arrested after a scuffle with the police during a protest. They were sent to jail on various charges,including attempt to murder. It was said the employees were released following “negotiations between the employees’ leaders and senior officers”. But can a case of attempt to murder be closed after negotiations? Or,was it a false case? K N Misra,in-charge of Hazratganj police station,said: “The investigation is on and real culprits are yet to be arrested.”

The return of dead youth
* In January,Adesh Saxena was released from jail after 21-year-old Gaurav Pandey,for whose murder he had been arrested,turned out to be alive. Saxena had to spend one-and-a-half-month in jail. Gaurav had eloped with Saxena’s daughter Nancy. When Saxena filed a case of kidnapping against Gaurav and his parents,the youth’s parents lodged a case against Saxena accusing him of killing their missing son. Six days later,when Ashiana police found a highly decomposed body in a pond,Gaurav’s father identified the body as that of his son. Promptly,Saxena was arrested and sent to jail. On January 12,Gaurav and Nancy returned,as they had run out of money. The police released Saxena but arrested Gaurav,his father Dileep and Nancy. But the question still remains whose body was identified as that of Gaurav’s. The police have no answer. “The investigation is on,” said in-charge of Ashiana police station.

A cellphone remedy
* In July 2009,the police arrested Prashant Awasthi,Chand and Anuj Shukla from Talkatora area,and claimed that they had solved a robbery of Rs 5 lakh that had taken place in Bazaar Khala a month ago. The police then claimed that they have recovered Rs 1.05 lakh of the looted money from the youths and a country-made pistol. But within a month,the police arrested another four persons — Riyaz Ali,Javed Ahmed,Athar Ali and Yusuf — and claimed that,actually,they had committed the crime. This time,too,the police claimed to have recovered a country-made pistol,a revolver and Rs 25,000. What led the police to believe that these four youths and not the earlier three were involved in the crime? The answer was cellphone records which showed that the four youths,who were arrested later,were present in the area when the crime took place. On the other hand the trio was not present there,courtesy their cellphone records. So,the police moved for the release of the three youths. But what about Rs 1.05 lakh and the country-made weapon recovered from the trio?

Frame-up to save skin
* On March 15 last year,the police sent one Kallu to jail under NDPS,after claiming seizure of narcotic substance from him. Later acting on a complaint that Kallu was innocent,the SP of the district ordered an inquiry. The probe found that Kallu was innocent. Following this,then in-charge of Madioan police station,Anupama Singh,was suspended and a case was registered against her. Simultaneously,Kallu was released from the jail. Six months later,on September 8,the police arrested one Chandu from Gudamba area with some stolen goods. During questioning,Chandu said that he was actually arrested with the drug,but he managed to escape from the police station. In a cover-up,the police arrested Kallu and framed him in the case.