A day after Inspector Dinesh Kumar, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Vijay Vihar police station in North West district, was arrested on the alleged charges of abetting the suicide of a 25-year-old woman, the Delhi Police on Sunday dismissed the SHO from service after a thorough enquiry into the matter by an officer of Joint Commissioner-rank.
Kumar was arrested on Saturday under the charge of abetting suicide after the woman, believed to be wife of a criminal in Vijay Vihar area, allegedly committed suicide outside Tis Hazari court complex in North Delhi, leaving behind a suicide note and a five-page complaint against the inspector accusing him of torturing and harassing her.
“During investigations, it was established that the SHO was in frequent touch with the wife of Ram Niwas and even had long conversations during odd hours from his official mobile number which construes misconduct, unprofessionalism and disregard of rules and procedures on the part of the inspector Kumar,” read the order, issued by Joint Commissioner of Police (northern range) Sanjay Singh.
The Delhi Police after the arrest of inspector Kumar initiated a preliminary investigation into the matter finding of which was brought to fore by Joint CP where he stated, “Ram Niwas’s wife got a case registered against him and the deceased Rekha in Vijay Vihar police station on April 21, which is presently pending investigation.” The Joint CP further stated, “The deceased Rekha committed suicide and in the suicide note she has accused inspector Kumar of torturing her and while unable to bear the trauma, she has taken her life holding inspector Kumar solely responsible for her death.”
The Delhi Police found out during investigations that inspector Kumar was in constant touch with Ram Niwas’s wife as the frequency of calls between them was analysed by the former. “From the analysis of call details of last six months, it is revealed that there were hundreds of calls of long duration between the inspector and Ram Niwas’ wife and that there are some conversations which were over 40 minutes and were made even at odd hours,” further read the order.
Stating the continual of the service of inspector Kumar in Delhi Police as ‘detrimental’ to public interest, Joint CP stated, “Kumar is dismissed from service under clauses of Second Proviso to article 311 of the Indian Constitution.”
Also, the Delhi Police recovered some video clips from inspector Kumar’s mobile phone of deceased Rekha’s wherein she was giving statements under distress in Vijay Vihar police station. The Delhi Police had further mentioned that no prime witness against Kumar had come to the fore only in fear of propping against a senior police officer.
Hence, Joint CP stated, “Further enquiry is not feasible in the said case due to the absence of reliable witnesses and also prima facie the facts revealed that actions of inspector Kumar amount to negligence, gross misconduct and acts highly unbecoming of a police officer.”
It may be noted that “A suicide note and a five-page complaint were recovered from the possession of the deceased levelling serious allegations against the inspector,” said DCP (north) Madhur Verma. In her suicide note, Rekha allegedly mentioned that “inspector Kumar is a devil and because of him, she is taking the extreme step”.