Prayagraj, Nov 3 The Allahabad High Court has directed the Kanpur Nagar Commissioner of Police to appear in person with an affidavit in connection with an alleged incident of looting and vandalism at a hotel in Kanpur city.
The court sought the personal appearance of Raghubir Lal after it prima facie found involvement of senior police personnel in the incident.
Hearing a writ petition filed by hotel owner Preeti Bajpai, a division bench of justices Ajay Bhanot and Divesh Chandra Samant said the investigation now warrants direct supervision by the district's highest police official.
The court also directed that a copy of its order be sent to the Director General of Police (DGP) and has fixed November 26 for the next hearing.
The court passed the order after finding the affidavit filed on behalf of the investigating officer (IO) unsatisfactory and highlighted the deficient nature of the investigation.
The matter concerned allegations that in November last year, when some people brought a JCB to Hotel Negi Grand, demolished a wall and subsequently vandalized and looted the premises.
According to the petitioner, videos of the incident surfaced but police did not initially register an FIR. The senior police authorities intervened and subsequently a case was registered at Rawatpur police station of Kanpur Nagar.
She alleged that a senior police official, Kapil Dev Singh, who is additional deputy commissioner of police, Kanpur Nagar was directly involved in the incident.
The court also referred to a case diary entry dated April 16, which recorded the alleged complicity of police authorities in the looting.
The case diary extract stated that CCTV footage and videos recorded by members of the public showed a JCB demolishing a wall of the hotel, while several people were present at the spot.
It further recorded that the hotel's windows, doors, cupboards, television, CCTV cameras and DVR were allegedly damaged and that articles were looted from the premises. The extract also referred to the presence and movement of police personnel during the incident.
While finding the investigating officer's affidavit unsatisfactory, the court in its order dated October 24 said that the matter required urgent attention at the highest level of police authorities. Therefore, the police commissioner was summoned.
