Chandigarh house grab case: Was harassed by police for two years, witness tells court - Hindustan Times
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Chandigarh house grab case: Was harassed by police for two years, witness tells court

By, Chandigarh
Feb 04, 2022 02:40 AM IST

Witness Amit Gupta, a chemist, tells court that while questioning him in search of the victim, the police took off his clothes and made him sit on an ice slab, before confining him in a police cell for three days

As his chief examination continued on Thursday, chemist Amit Gupta narrated in detail his torture and harassment at the hands of the accused in the Sector-37 house grab case that forced him to wind up his business.

In this case, 11 accused are facing trial for illegally confining Rahul Mehta, 48, the sole surviving heir of his family, in his 338 square yards house in Chandigarh in April 2017, before forcibly transferring its general power of attorney to their names and abandoning him in Gujarat. (HT Photo)
In this case, 11 accused are facing trial for illegally confining Rahul Mehta, 48, the sole surviving heir of his family, in his 338 square yards house in Chandigarh in April 2017, before forcibly transferring its general power of attorney to their names and abandoning him in Gujarat. (HT Photo)

Amit, 44, who had fallen sick in the courtroom on Wednesday, told the court that in April 2017, one of the accused, journalist Sanjeev Mahajan, told him not to treat the gangrene wounds of the victim, Rahul Mehta, 48.

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The same month, some police personnel took him to the Sector 39 police station, where apart from Sanjeev, SHO inspector Rajdeep Singh and bouncer Surjit were also present.

Amit told the court that he was beaten and repeatedly questioned about the whereabouts of Rahul. “They took off my clothes and made me sit on an ice slab. I was confined in a police cell for three days. Thereafter, I was told that Rahul had been traced and I was let off with a warning not to meet him in future,” he alleged.

Amit further said the police threatened him with false implication in a drug case. “They continued to embarrass and harass me for two years. I was terrified and compelled to wind up my business. I have gone through immense trauma,” he stated before the court.

In this case, 11 accused are facing trial for illegally confining Rahul Mehta, 48, the sole surviving heir of his family, in his 338 square yards house in April 2017, before forcibly transferring the general power of attorney (GPA) to their names and abandoning him at a stud farm in Gujarat.

Apart from journalist Sanjeev Mahajan, SHO Rajdeep Singh, who has since been suspended, and now deceased bouncer Surjit, the accused include realtor Manish Gupta and his brother Saurab Gupta; Satpal Dagar, brother of a UT deputy superintendent of police; liquor baron Arvind Singla and businessman Khalendra Singh Kadyan, along with Ashok Arora, Shekhar and Daljit Singh, who purportedly acted as witnesses in the subsequent sale of the house in March 2019.

Gurpreet Singh, who impersonated Rahul as the property owner to execute the sale is another accused in the case.

The case is now listed for February 7, when the victim has been summoned to record his statement.

Police put on notice on accused’s plea against 7 challans

The Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday issued a notice to the Chandigarh Police on a plea moved by liquor contractor Arvind Singla, one of the accused in the Sector-37 property grab case.

Singla had approached HC, challenging the January 28 order of the trial court that had ordered that seven separate trials be conducted in the case.

He has argued that all challans pertain to the same FIR and should be clubbed. He also demanded that the trial be stayed while the proceedings before HC are pending. The response from Chandigarh Police has been sought by March 14.

Meanwhile, HC also deferred the hearing into the bail pleas of accused Rajdeep Singh, Khalendra Singh Kadyan, Gurpreet Singh and Sanjeev Mahajan till March 14, as UT’s counsel told the court that examination of some sensitive witnesses was underway.

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