Date:27/04/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/04/27/stories/2008042753210300.htm

New Delhi

Cop accused of criminal assault dismissed

Staff Reporter

Constable and his friend sent to 14-day judicial custody

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police constable who was arrested along with a friend on charges of kidnapping and criminally assaulting a 12-year-old girl in Swarup Nagar here on Thursday has been dismissed from service.

Constable Sanjeev Singh and his property dealer friend Naresh were on Friday afternoon produced in a court that sent them to 14-day judicial custody. Later in the day, Police Commissioner Y. S. Dadwal issued orders dismissing the policeman from service. Sanjeev had been posted with the Traffic Department and was allegedly on leave without permission.

Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Committee for Empowerment of Women summoned Mr. Dadwal to discuss issues pertaining to safety of women in Delhi. The Committee, headed by Krishna Tirath, sought a detailed report from the Police Commissioner on the cases of crime against women reported in the recent past in the Capital and also the action-taken report within a week.

Around noon on Friday, angry local residents and relatives of the victim set Sanjeev’s car afire. The police have registered a separate case in the matter.

Sanjeev and Naresh were arrested after the victim’s father lodged a complaint with the police alleging that the constable had criminally assaulted the girl after taking her to an isolated spot.

The girl told the police that she was standing near a temple when the two, who were in a car with tinted glasses, picked her up.

While Naresh got off the vehicle on the way, the constable took her to a deserted place and forced himself on her. He then dumped her at the place where he had picked her up.

Late in the evening, the SHO of the Swarup Nagar police station was transferred to VII Battalion of the DAP .