Maharashtra: Senior inspector in hot water over harassment allegations

The four friends at the Uttan Sagri police station

A departmental inquiry revealed that senior inspector Prashant Langi of the Uttan Sagri police station had allegedly registered a non-cognizable (NC) offence which is not as per law in a cctns (Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems) format against an activist and also kept CCTV cameras in his cabin non-operational for 13 days.

However, after no action was taken, the victim, Krishna Gupta, complained to the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission and State Police Complaints Authority. An in-depth inquiry is now being made against Langi as well as Mira-Bhayandar Vasai-Virar police commissioner Sadanand Date for allegedly not acting after DCP Amit Kale's report, who carried out the initial inquiry, sent him three default reports against the senior inspector in the past year.

Gupta told mid-day, "On June 25 last year, three friends and I had gone to Uttan late at night. We were stopped by a police van and taken to the police station. I immediately started recording everything on my phone and also called the control room, informing them about our situation. On reaching the police station, the senior inspector took us into his cabin. He didn't allow us to sit down and seized our phones."

Krishna Gupta

Alleging that Langi made racist comments, the activist said, "He also threatened to register an FIR against us under section 353 of the IPC (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty). Two constables, Ravindra Bagul and Kishor Patil, then apprised Langi that I had called the control room."

"Langi also called the control room, telling them that the police were registering a case against us under section 353. Till 4.30 am, Langi abused us. Later that morning he told us to pay Rs8,000 in total for violating lockdown rules and released us. On June 26, 2021, I wrote to the CP about Langi's behaviour, and he subsequently ordered DCP Kale to conduct an inquiry and the latter directed the Navghar ACP division to carry it out," Gupta said.

According to Gupta, in the wake of his complaint, Langi registered an NC against the quartet in a book, which the activist stated is illegal, and sent them notices twice to present themselves in the police station for an inquiry. "To investigate an NC, the police need an order from the magistrate but Langi had not received any such order," he said.

Gupta alleged that Langi intended to register FIRs. "I immediately complained to the DCP and also sent him a recording of our encounter in Uttan," he said. In the inquiry conducted by DCP Kale, it was learnt that CCTV cameras in Langi's cabin had been non-operational for 13 days. Also, the number of the NC registered by Langi was found to be the same as another.

When DCP Kale recorded Bagul and Patil's statements, both claimed Gupta had boasted that he had a lot of contacts in the police but in the video that was recorded by Gupta, the activist was not seen making any such threats. Observing that the constables gave fake statements, they were punished of Rs1,000 each on 10 and 31 July, 2022. Kale also determined that all show-cause notices sent by Langi were illegal till 2021.

DCP Kale also prepared three default reports, holding Langi responsible for harassing Gupta, registering an NC in the handwritten format - which is frowned upon, sending illegal notices to Gupta and his friends and the non-functioning CCTV cameras in his cabin. On July 30, 2021 DCP has ordered to stopped the investigation because as per no court order as per crpc 155(2). The DCP also sent these reports to Date, asking that action be taken against Langi. However, nothing happened.

Gupta said, "I had sent 15 reminders to the DG office to take action against miscount the duty of Langi on the basis of the reports but nothing was done so I took the help of the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission in September 2021 and State Police Complaints Authority on April 5, 2022. I also filed a complaint against Date for not taking action against Langi after it was proved that he misused his power and violated many laws. As per MBMC order if anyone caught roaming outside without any valid reasons in lockdown then police have to fine then 2000 rupees per person and also they should conduct the COVID test and after negative reports only they should be released. However, Senior inspector Langi fined us 2000 rupees per head but failed to conduct Covid test which is mandatory as per law."

On August 23, 2022 Date was present at a hearing called for by the State Police Complaints Authority and he stated that the case should be heard either by it or by the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission and that Gupta had been instructed to withdraw his complaint from one body.

Gupta said, "Langi wanted to register a fake case against us, showing that we all were drunk and creating a nuisance but in police station CCTV camera footage it was found that we were clearly not drunk and this is why he registered a fake NC and sent show-causes. Our medical examination was not done because we all were sober. To cover up their illegal action on January 31, 2022 police again registered the same matter of NC in the cctns portal which is in proper legal format."

Gupta's 3 friend who were caught for breaking lockdown were also harrassed by the constables whom Langi had sent summon to their residents. Constables were also gave fake information to their parents that their children were caught in drunk and they were taken to the police. They also told to send their children to the police station."

Langi termed the report submitted by Kale baseless and one-sided. The official told mid-day that it had been submitted without verification. "We had mistakenly entered the wrong NC number. We also took the help of our nodal officer and submitted the rectified report. The NC was transferred to the ACP division and the ACP submitted the charge sheet to the court," he said.

Alleging that DCP Kale was out to get Date and him, Langi said, "He has guided Gupta, who is his close friend, into complaining to the State Human Rights Commission and Police Complaints Authority. We will file all the evidence that we have. We have also checked the CCTV and it was found that the fuse was not proper. We also submitted that report to the CP. It was a technical fault. The activist and his friends violated lockdown norms and he was found 12 to 13 kilometres from his residence and we only acted on this. We are clean and have never been involved in illegal activities."

Langi also alleged that the DCP had tried to force him to carry out "many illegal activities", which he refused to do. "This is harassment by DCP Kale," he said. DCP Kale said, "The NC was rectified one and a half months after the incident. I stopped him (Langi) because he was operating illegally. CCTV cameras, which have to be active as per the Supreme Court and DG office guidelines, were non-functional. He has broken the law and due to this, I submitted three default reports, which are factual.

Dismissing Langi's allegations of wrongdoing, he added, "He has been found guilty in my report, which is why he is making baseless claims about me. If he has proof, he should complain against me. I have already submitted the report to the CP and they will take action accordingly." Date, meanwhile, told mid-day that he has submitted a detailed response to State Police Complaints Authority. "We are in process of submitting a detailed response to State Human Rights Commission," he added.

The CP stated that Gupta had made two requests to him in September 2021. "The first request was to transfer the investigation to any police station other than Uttan and the second was to take action against Langi. I had assured him of fair action and had immediately transferred the investigation, as requested by him, to the Navghar police station in order to ensure that the probe was fair and impartial," he said.

He added, "When we analysed the default report, we had found certain deficiencies and the same were pointed out to the DCP. We also told him to expedite the investigation of case under investigation against Gupta and submit a detailed report against all delinquents after completing the investigation. Accordingly, he submitted the detailed report to us which we received on August 1, and we initiated departmental action against Langi on August 5."

Asked about the constables who were fined for making 'false statements', he replied, "This action has been initiated and concluded by DCP Zone 1. The head constable concerned had been aggrieved by the actions and met me in personal interview. I have informed him that if he's aggrieved, he can appeal against the order of the DCP before the competent authority, which in this case is the DGP."