Haryana shunts out woman police officer involved in spat with senior

The Haryana government, on Monday evening, ordered the transfer from Gurgaon of senior woman police officer Bharti Arora, who was involved in a verbal spat with her senior officer over the investigation into a rape case.

Arora was moved from her current assignment as joint commissioner of police in Gurgaon to the inconsequential posting as deputy inspector general (DIG) for welfare and training.

Arora had accused her boss, Navdeep Singh Virk, who is the Gurgaon commissioner of police, of "harassment and mental torture" and wrongly interfering in the enquiry into a high-profile rape case, involving the son of an Indian Administrative Service officer.

She has also demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) enquiry into the matter.

Virk, however, denied the allegations.

Haryana's Director General of Police (DGP) Yashpal Singhal had marked an enquiry into the accusations levelled by the two senior police officers against each other.

Police sources said that Arora's transfer came after the enquiry officer submitted his report.

Ajay Bhardwaj, an MNC executive and the son of Gurgaon's former deputy commissioner R.P. Bhardwaj, was booked for rape and his family members for criminal intimidation under Indian Penal Code last year.

The complainant was Bhardwaj's former live-in partner, a resident of Ardee City Gurgaon, with whom she has a child. Bhardwaj was arrested by Gurgaon police from his office in Noida on August 1, 2014.

"I have written to Haryana DGP Yashpal Singhal and will demand high-level probe, including CBI, into the wrongly interference by Virk in the alleged rape case," Arora had told media persons in Gurgaon.

Arora claimed that Ajay Bhardwaj and his family were intentionally implicated in the rape case. The officer said that complainant had earlier too had slapped such charges on two men.

Arora had written to Singhal against Virk, seeking his intervention, saying she feared that Virk might harm her career.

Virk has also sent a report to the DGP alleging that Bharti is bent on saving the rape accused as his sister is known to her.

The controversy started in July last year when Arora was asked to probe the case. At that time, Virk was not posted as Gurgaon police chief.

Virk, responding to the allegations, said: "I am sad that the valued colleague had to issue false statements in the media in matters which are official and under the consideration of the police headquarters, to hide her own misconduct."