In a significant development highlighting police misconduct, the Anti-Corruption Organisation (ACO) in Lucknow has registered a First Information Report (FIR) against five police officers. The officers are accused of fabricating a complete theft and forgery case against an iron-rod trader back in 2020, allegedly to gain appreciation from their seniors for showing "good work."
The Accused Officers and the Fabricated Case
The FIR, lodged at the PGI police station by ACO inspector Noorul Huda Khan, names former Banthra Station House Officer (SHO) Prahlad Singh, Senior Sub-Inspector (SSI) Dinesh Kumar, and Sub-Inspectors (SIs) Santosh Kumar, Rajesh Kumar, and Alok Srivastava. These officers were posted at Lucknow Police Lines and in Bahraich at the relevant time.
According to the detailed investigation, the team from Banthra police falsely implicated trader Vikas Gupta, his driver Darshan Lal, and six other individuals. The probe reveals that the officers created fabricated evidence, concocted a false narrative, and even submitted forged documents in court. This was done to project the arrests as a major success in solving a crime that never actually occurred.
How the False Case Was Staged
The incident dates back to the night of December 31, 2020. SI Santosh Kumar claimed to have received a tip-off that stolen iron rods were being sold secretly near Baba Dhaba in Junabganj. Acting on this manufactured information, the police arrested Vikas Gupta and his driver Darshan Lal. They also listed six others as absconding accused.
The police narrative stated that a half-loaded mini-truck with stolen iron was seized and that Gupta had confessed to buying the material from the absconding individuals. The very next day, the police projected these arrests as a major achievement and received commendation from senior officials. The ACO's three-year-long probe has now conclusively found this entire episode to be fabricated.
Victims' Ordeal and Legal Battle
Among those falsely implicated were former Block Development Council (BDC) member Ranjana Singh's husband Lalta Singh, their three sons, and one Kallu Gupta of Shekhupur. These individuals spent 20 days in jail before they could secure bail. Since their release, Lalta Singh and his wife have been waging a relentless legal battle for the past five years to expose the false case and clear their names.
The matter was eventually handed over to the Anti-Corruption Organisation in 2022 after serious discrepancies came to light. The subsequent investigation meticulously uncovered that the police had deliberately staged the entire case with the sole intention of securing praise and appreciation from their superiors, at the grave cost of innocent citizens' freedom and reputation.
