Probe Kripashankar for threatening accuser: HC

Cops may lose job if claim of torture is true

The Bombay High Court on Thursday ordered a magisterial inquiry against former president of the Mumbai Pradesh Congress Committee Kripashankar Singh and officers attached to the Vakola Police Station after a Kalina resident alleged that Singh had usurped his property, and that police officers had tortured him in custody at his instance.

The court direction, which could spell fresh trouble for the tainted politician, has come just three days after Singh was questioned by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the Mumbai Police Commissioner which is probing the allegedly disproportionate assets of Singh and his family members.

Tulsidas Nair (40) had filed a petition in the High Court seeking protection from Singh's "hitmen" and alleged that Singh had usurped his properties in Vakola, Kalina and Bandra-Kurla Complex.

Further, Nair alleged gross violation of human rights as officers of the Vakola police station, allegedly on instructions from Singh, tied him down in the police lock-up and poured alcohol down his throat.

In his petition, Nair has contended that in 1998, he had succeeded in the City Civil Court and obtained an order to evict Singh and his accomplices from his three shops and three flats that had been illegally grabbed.

However, he said, Singh used his "muscle power and political clout" to oust him from his properties and subject him and his sister to torture and humiliation.

Asking the police to provide protection to Nair, Justice V M Kanade warned, "If we find that something is amiss and what he (Nair) is saying is true, we will pass strictures and they (police officers) will lose their jobs. This will not be tolerated."

Justices Kanade and P D Kode asked the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of the Bandra Court to conduct an inquiry into the case and submit a report to the High Court in two weeks.

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