A man abducted and brutally beaten up by the family of his ex-lover struggled to get an FIR lodged as personnel from two police stations fought over jurisdiction issues

This case may sound bizarre enough to be an aberration, but it is a rather common practice for Delhi police personnel to decide the jurisdiction of a case with inch tapes. On occasions, even at the cost of delaying justice.


Police story: Personnel at Anand Vihar police stationu00a0managed to prove
that the case comes under the jurisdiction of Farsh Bazaar police. Pics/mid day

The recent incident turned out to be a face-off between cops from Anand Vihar and Farsh Bazaar police stations in east Delhi. The victim, Ravinder Pratap Singh (35), a resident of East Vinod Nagar had arrived at the Anand Vihar police station to lodge an FIR. According to Ravinder, he was kidnapped from near the Karkardooma Court on the 5th of this month.

Love bites
"I lived in Loni area of UP a long time back. I was in touch with a girl who was my neighbour and we often spoke over the phone. Earlier this year I moved to East Vinod Nagar in Delhi and got married in March. On the 4th of December the girl fled from her house in Loni.

Her parents assumed that I was involved in the incident. They called me up on December 5 and asked me to meet them near Karkardooma Court in the morning. I went there in my car. As I reached the spot I saw the girl's father Rakesh Fauji and the girl's brother Amit standing there with 4-5 other people. I thought they wanted to talk but they showed me a pistol and kidnapped me in my own car and took me to Loni. They locked me in their home and started beating me. They were asking me about the girl," said Ravinder.

The accused allegedly dumped the victim near the Loni police post in UP. The cops there asked the victim about the girl. After being satisfied that Ravinder was not involved in the matter the cops from UP sent him back.

Back and forth
"First I went to Mandawali police station because my house comes under the area. But the cops there said that the crime scene comes under Anand Vihar police station. So we went to Anand Vihar to lodge an FIR against Rakesh and others for kidnapping.

But there the policemen told me that the area comes under Farsh Bazaar police station. We went to Farsh Bazaar but the same story was repeated. The policemen there claimed that the spot falls under the jurisdiction of Anand Vihar police. Finally after hours of conflict the cops from both police stations went to the spot carrying measuring tapes to settle the matter," said Ravinder, the complainant.

The cops were at the spot till late at night measuring the area. Finally Anand Vihar claimed victory and the case was officially transferred to the Farsh Bazaar police station at 10.30pm. The victim then moved to Farsh Bazaar where a complaint has been filed. An FIR could be lodged in the next few days. When MiD DAY contacted senior cops they refused to comment on the issue.