SHO among 4 suspended for dereliction of duty in Greater Noida loot-and-murder case

A station house officer (SHO) and three sub-inspectors of a police station in Greater Noida have been suspended for dereliction of duty in connection with a loot-and-murder case, officials said on Saturday.

SHO Manoj Pathak, SIs Veerpal Singh Tomar, Rajendra Kumar and Maan Singh of Bisrakh police station were suspended on Friday night after a probe by Circle Officer (Greater Noida 3) Rajeev Kumar Singh into their lax approach in the case, a police spokesperson said.

Also, a sub-inspector in charge of Cherry County police post in Greater Noida (West) has been taken off duty and sent to police lines for "unsatisfactory" work approach, the spokesperson added.

The case pertains to private firm employee Gaurav Chandel.

Chandel, a resident of 5th Avenue Gaur City, was returning from work in Gurgaon on the night of January 7. Around 10.30 pm, he called up his wife to inform her that he was at Parthala Chowk and would reach home in five minutes.

Around 4 am on January 8, he was found unconscious along a service road between Parthala Chowk and Hindon Vihar while his SUV, wallet, laptop and other belongings were missing, in a suspected loot-and-murder case. He was rushed to a private hospital where doctors declared him dead, the police said.

Chandel's family alleged that after 45 minutes since his call they panicked and started calling on his number but he did not respond. Then they along with a few neighbours approached the local Cherry County police post where no help was provided to them.

Later, they reached Bisrakh police station where they requested to put Chandel's phone on surveillance but the officials there kept dilly-dallying the matter, citing the case did not fall in their jurisdiction, and two crucial hours were wasted.

Protests have been carried out in Greater Noida (West) with several demanding 'Justice for Gaurav Chandel' over the week.

Earlier on Friday, Inspector General (Meerut Range) Alok Singh and Commissioner Anita Meshram visited Gaur City and met with Chandel's family.

Meanwhile, the IG Range Meerut has directed all police stations to immediately respond to such cases and file a case irrespective whether it falls in their jurisdiction or not.

"If the case falls in other police station's jurisdiction, the case can be transferred there subsequently but probe must begin without delay, Singh was quoted as saying in a press note.

The case of Chandel's loot and death is now being probed by Phase II police station and officials are yet to make any breakthrough.