Three Kerala police officials, who are facing a Mumbai Crime Branch probe for aiding and abetting the rape of a woman from the city while she was in their custody, are likely to be given a clean chit
Three Kerala police officials, who are facing a Mumbai Crime Branch probe for aiding and abetting the rape of a woman from the city while she was in their custody, are likely to be given a clean chit.
The 38-year-old Mira Road resident was arrested by the Kerala police on October 1, 2013, after a complaint of cheating was filed against her by one V V Jose at Thrissur police station in Kerala.
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Jose had accused the woman of taking money from women by promising them nursing jobs in foreign countries. He had alleged that she had cheated several women to the tune of Rs 1 crore and had kept around Rs 60 lakh from that and distributed the rest among her accomplices.
“The Kerala police had arrested the woman on October 1 last year and had taken a transit remand from a Thane court. Since their train was supposed to leave the next day, they decided to stay at New India Lodge in Dongri,” said a Crime Branch officer.
The women alleged later that the complainant V V Jose was also present in the lodge and had raped her in the presence of his friends M A Salim and Jijo Weblodon. She had accused inspector P P Davis and constables Girija Vallaban and Sunita Hansa, whose custody she was in, of abetting the crime.
The police officials were later suspended. When the Dongri police did not register an FIR, she approached the Supreme court, which ordered Assistant Commissioner of Police Yeshwant Vhatkar of the Mumbai Crime Branch to carry out an investigation.
No evidence?
The Mumbai Crime Branch carried out lie detector tests on the six people accused by the woman, which came back negative. Sources also said that the woman had not tried to register a case for a long time and had not told anybody about the alleged rape. They said circumstantial evidence also does not point to the woman being raped in the Kerala police’s custody.
ACP Vhatkar also found that at the time at which the woman had alleged she was raped by Jose, he was not in the lodge and was out taking a call, as per his call detail records. “We carried out lie detector tests on all six accused and they came back negative. We will be submitting the investigation report to the Supreme Court on Saturday,” said a Crime Branch officer.
“We think that the women alleged rape as she suspected more victims of her fraud would approach the Kerala police and register cheating cases against her,” he added.
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