KOLKATA: Alipore court has directed nine CISF personnel, including a sub-inspector, who were engaged in the personal security of BJP leader Rakesh Singh to appear before the investigating officer for interrogation in a drug case under Section 67 of the NDPS Act.
Singh was earlier arrested in a cocaine case and the police have since submitted a chargesheet on how he “conspired” against former model and BJP leader Pamela Goswami. Police had served several notices under CrPC 160 to the CISF personnel to appear before them but they did not comply.
“Under the circumstances, the prosecution urged the court for passing necessary order directing the appearance of the CISF personnel named in their petition for interrogation... This court takes strong exception regarding conduct of the nine CISF personnel as well as the superiors by refusing appearance before the IO... when these CISF personnel are duty bound to pay respect to law and the procedure,” the court order stated, upholding the police plea under CrPC 91. The court ordered that a copy of the order, along with a copy of the CrPC 91 petition, be served to the CISF DGP.
The narcotics cell of the detective department has alleged that Singh’s security personnel are privy to conversations that took place during the drug deal and were present when Singh was trying to flee the city. Senior lawyers felt the order might open new avenues on how personnel from central forces react to police summons. It is still not clear if the central force will challenge the order in a higher court. Singh’s lawyers have dismissed all claims, saying they are “politically motivated.”
“We have presented before court that Singh had procured cocaine through a model, Sweety, and two more peddlers and, with the help of one Amrit Raj, got it planted in the vehicle of Pamela. During these discussions, Singh was with his security and thus they might have additional information,” said an investigating officer, adding that the chargesheet had been submitted in a record 74 days. A plea to continue the investigation had been submitted to the court earlier, leading to the fresh notices being issued to CISF personnel.
Police have also sent CCTV footage from Singh’s residence to forensic experts at CFSL. “We suspect that when we were initially stopped from entering Singh’s residence at Orphangunge Road and the day we finally arrested him from Galsi in Burdwan, there was an attempt by his aides to delete footage. We are hoping the CFSL experts can retrieve those parts or at least certify that such attempts were made,” said an investigating officer.
