Brothers Of Dead Businessman Use RTI Act And Court To Wake Cops Up

It took eight months, three RTI applications and a petition in a metropolitan magistrate’s court for two brothers to seek ‘‘justice’’ for their youngest brother who the Narela police had claimed was among the first ‘victims’ of the economic downturn. Now, joint commissioner (northern range) Karnail Singh has promised to investigate the case thoroughly.

‘‘Based on the forensic evidence and medical reports before us, we will investigate whether it was a case of homicide or suicide,’’ said Atul Katiyar, DCP (Outer).

It had been reported on October 26 last year that 44-yearold Ashish Pal Khatri had allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself with his ‘pistol’ after shutting himself up in his bedroom. Ashish owned many properties at Narela, including a farmhouse. He also owned plots at Sonepat and was in the process of constructing a luxury hotel at Vrindavan in Mathura district of UP.

‘‘We were not satisfied with the police investigations from the very beginning. My brother was never under any economic stress. Neither did he ever carry a firearm with him. I was convinced it was a coldblooded murder,’’ said Mahavir Singh Khatri (53), a property developer and brother of the deceased. Thus began the struggle of Mahavir and Ranvir Kumar Khatri (60), eldest of the three siblings, to ‘‘account for the truth’’.

Said Anand Bharadwaj, advocate, who was helping the brothers: ‘‘The incident was reported on the morning of October 26 — according to police records — through an unknown number though Ashish’s close family members were present in the house. According to FIR number 474/08, lodged at the Narela police station, the police were informed of a ‘murder’ at Ashish’s Narela residence around 8.40 am. Incidentally, the post-mortem report indicated that the incident took place between 3.30 am and 4.30 am in the morning. The investigators never questioned why it took so long for the incident to be reported.’’

Curiously, the Narela police registered a case under the Arms Act against the deceased. As investigating officer Ved Prakash put it: ‘‘It was an illegal weapon that we recovered from Khatri. Naturally a case was registered against the deceased.’’ The family though is sceptical. ‘‘We have never heard of a case against the deceased.’’

Mahavir then lodged an RTI seeking details of the investigations. He was shocked when the reply came on February 23 this year. ‘‘The reply stated that FIR number 872/08 has been lodged and that the charges include a case of cheating under IPC section 420 (A copy of it is with Times City). Of course, after we filed another RTI application seeking to know the last FIR lodged at Narela police station each year between 2002 and 2009, DCP (outer) Atul Katiyar sent a written message to them on June 15 saying that the earlier document had an inadvertent mistake and the original FIR number was 874/08 (A copy of this is with Times City too),’’ said Mahavir.

With little cooperation from the police, the brothers moved the MM’s court in Rohini. ‘‘This was after the BJRM Hospital sent us the post-mortem report in response to a third RTI that we filed with them. The doctors stated that he was shot from a distance and that a rifle, instead of a pistol, was used for the crime,’’ added Mahavir.

The court then directed DCP (Outer) to submit a reply on the investigations into the case. In his written reply, the DCP said: ‘‘The doctor opined about the cause of death that all injuries are ante-mortem in nature, caused by a firearm which is rifled (sic). Ammunition is discharged from firearm from a distant range...Therefore, as per suggestion of autopsy surgeon, ballistic expert V K Anand, senior scientific officer, FSL, Rohini, has been requested to re-examine the case.’’ (A copy of this reply is with Times City).

On Saturday, when Times City contacted Katiyar, he said that both ballistic and medical board reports are awaited. ‘‘A three-member medical board has been constituted. The two reports (medical and ballistic) together will be crucial for the investigations,’’ he said.

Source:- The Times of India 21 June 2009 P. 6 Delhi

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