Doon ex-SSP, SHO pulled up for ‘failing to act’in demolition of house of decorated naval officer

Dehradun: Uttarakhand Police Complaints Authority (UPCA) has written to the state home department to take disciplinary action against former Dehradun SSP Janmajeya Khanduri and then-SHO of Clement Town police station Narendra Gehlawat for their alleged involvement in a case pertaining to the demolition of the house of late naval officer VK Kapoor in Jan 2022 by alleged land mafia.The recommendation was made by the five-member UPCA headed by Justice NS Dhanik (retd) in a letter, accessed by TOI, dated Mar 12. In the letter, the members had stated that they had taken action on the complaint received from Kusum Kapoor, wife of the decorated naval officer, who had a nearly 100-year old house in the city's Clement Town area.She sent her complaint to the authority on Jan 25, 2022, related to the Jan 12 incident, in which an FIR was registered on Jan 17 on directions of the then-DGP Ashok Kumar, whom she met after Dehradun district police allegedly "failed to take any action" on her Jan 13 complaint. A UPCA member, who had retired from the post of IG in the state police, told TOI that during the probe related to Kapoor's complaint, it was found that both Khanduri and Gehlawat had failed to stop the incident. Notably, Khanduri is currently on central deputation while Gehlawat is attached to the IG Garhwal's office."The accused had demolished the house with bulldozers when she had gone to Noida for treatment. They tied up her tenant and a servant while razing the century-old place bought by the complainant's husband in 1997. They also robbed the valuables. During the investigation by UPCA, both Khanduri and Gehlawat were found guilty of not taking prompt legal measures on her complaint. They also didn't bother to visit the place of demolition," he said.He added that based on the findings, the authority had then written to the state govt to take the necessary disciplinary action against the two officers. "We also directed the govt to apprise the authority of the action taken by them on our recommendation," said the member.