HC hearing on SIT findings to decide fate of police officials

NEW DELHI: With Manu Sharma behind the bars for the murder of ramp model Jessica Lall, it could be the turn of police officers who allegedly sought to botch up the initial investigation into the case.

The fate of the police officials, who had investigated the case initially before the trial court had acquitted all the nine accused, will be decided when the High Court takes up for hearing the case on findings of the Special Investigating Team (SIT) set up by city Police Commissioner K K Paul to look into the loopholes in the probe.

The SIT, headed by Special Commissioner (Intelligence) U K Katna, had quizzed several senior officers including Arunachal Pradesh DGP Amod Kanth, Additional Commissioner Sudhir Yadav and Chandigarh Superintendent of Police Vivek Gogia who were involved in the Jessica Lall murder probe in 1999.

The police have submitted three reports to the High Court on their findings wherein the SIT is understood to have highlighted several departures from procedures in investigating the case.

The role of the ballistic expert at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory has also come under a cloud. It was the CFSL report that had confirmed the two weapon theory that was one of the reasons for the acquittal of all the accused by the lower court.

Paul had registered a case on March 6, 2006 to examine "certain infirmities" and a "lot of material" that had come up in the aftermath of the acquittals in February.