CCTV era, tantrik trail: High court raps Nagaur police over ‘supernatural’ theft probe

Jodhpur: In an age of CCTV footage, cyber forensics and digital surveillance, a jewellery theft investigation in Rajasthan briefly wandered into the supernatural — and the Rajasthan High Court was not amused.The Jodhpur bench Wednesday pulled up Nagaur police after allegations surfaced that a theft probe was influenced by a tantrik's inputs. Hearing a petition filed by 80-year-old Khema Devi, Justice Munnuri Laxman made it clear that a criminal investigation cannot be conducted on the "directions or opinions of a tantrik".The court ordered the Nagaur SP to replace the investigating officer and transfer the probe to another officer of sub-inspector rank or above within 15 days.The case stems from a jewellery theft reported in March at Shri Balaji police station in Nagaur district. The complaint said gold and silver ornaments and cash worth over Rs 12 lakh were stolen from the complainant's house.But the court's focus shifted from what was stolen to how the police went looking for it.In her plea, Khema Devi alleged that the investigating officer, head constable Ratiram, sought the help of a tantrik in Alwar district while trying to identify suspects, instead of relying on evidence and standard procedure. Her counsel argued that the investigation then appeared to zero in on a family member based on the tantrik's "indications", rather than on material evidence.The state defended the probe, filing a status report saying the officer had questioned several suspects and visited multiple locations. The report also acknowledged that the officer had visited the place where the tantrik resides, though it denied allegations that villagers were taken along.That admission proved costly. After reviewing the submissions and the status report, the court said that since the investigating officer had visited the tantrik's place, there was a strong possibility the investigation had been "tainted and influenced by the tantrik's opinion".An independent probe, the court said, was necessary to identify the real accused — and it ordered Ratiram off the case.In short: evidence in, exorcism out.