Facing the heat following Tuesday's violent protests, Nehru Nagar police defend themselves
What is at the root of Tuesday's violence in Chembur? A family that has lost two people in seven months — a daughter missing since April and a father who killed himself in grief — alleges it is all down to police negligence in tracing the missing 17-year-old.
Pancharam Rithadia's daughter was last seen leaving her home on March 30, when she went to a public toilet. Pancharam rushed to the Nehru Nagar police station, who initially took it as a missing person complaint, as the family apparently told them the daughter was above 18.
"In such cases, unless the missing person makes a call to relatives and friends, there is no way to trace them," said an officer who is part of the probe. "In this case too we tried our best to find the accused. All the friends related to the missing person were interrogated and all the inputs provided by the family were verified."
The police said the girl used Facebook and WhatsApp on her father's phone and that they questioned all her friends, besides checking CCTV footage. "We found footage where the girl can be seen walking alone near a Hanuman Temple. That was her last known location," said the officer.
Police said the family went to its hometown and returned with a birth certificate, which put the girl's age at 17. The police claim they turned the missing person's complaint into that of kidnapping as per SC guidelines on April 25.
But the Rithadias alleged that the police did not register an FIR as early as they could have. The family named Bhagchand Fulwariya, 23, who they said was in touch with their daughter, as being responsible for her disappearance.
The Nehru Nagar police said they called Fulwariya and his family for questioning, but found no substance in the allegation. The police said they went through Bhagchand's cell phone tower locations, adding that he never left the vicinity of his home on the day of the girl's disappearance or since. "We also searched their home, but found nothing," said the officer. "Bhagchand was also produced before senior police officials and since nothing concrete came out from the probe, we had to let him go."
Another senior officer said the police never slacked, as alleged by the family. "Whenever the family approached us with any input, we dispatched a team to verify the details. Since nothing concrete came of the investigations, the case remains unsolved."
DCP (Zone 6) Shashi Kumar Meena defended the Nehru Nagar police, saying their investigation has been thorough. "Our investigation has been in-depth since the day the incident was reported," said Meena. "There has been no delay or negligence on our part. We are still looking for the girl."
Another senior officer too said the police are not at fault: "We have given our best but unfortunately we couldn't till now. But there is no negligence." This official also said the trail went cold after Bhaghchand was cleared.
"The person accused by the family was called for questioning more than 10 times. He was even interrogated in front of the girl's family. He made himself available whenever the investigators called him. There is no direct or circumstantial evidence to arrest him. The family named another female they suspected. We questioned her also thoroughly but found nothing warranting an action," the high-ranking IPS officer told mid-day.
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