The owner of a car, stolen two years ago, could hardly believe it when he received a call from an auto service centre seeking his feedback. He was equally shocked to be told by the centre that the vehicle had been returned to station officer, Bithoor police station, Kaushlendra Pratap Singh, after servicing.
Singh, one of the cops injured in the Bikru ambush, in which eight policemen were killed by gangster Vikas Dubey and his men on July 3 last, would have continued using the stolen car had he not taken the car for the service.
Omendra Soni, the owner of the car, said his vehicle was stolen from Barra area from a car washing centre on December 31, 2018. He said he had lodged an FIR with the Barra police but the vehicle could not be found.
On Wednesday, he got a call from KTL service centre enquiring if his vehicle was running fine after the service a few days ago.
“I was surprised at the query. I was told my details were with the centre due to a previous servicing of my Wagon R, that is why the call was placed for feedback,” he said.
“I went to the service centre and I was told that the vehicle was returned to SO Bithoor, Kaushlendra Pratap Singh on December 22 after servicing,” he said, wondering why the police had not informed him about having recovered his stolen vehicle.
Singh, in his defence, claimed he had found the car abandoned after which it was seized. However, he did not elaborate on the date when the vehicle was found.
When asked how a police officer could use a seized vehicle as it was not permissible, he did not answer. As per the procedure, Bithoor police should have informed Barra police about the recovery of the car. However, Barra police confirmed that it did not receive any intimation from Bithoor police.
Left red-faced, the police brass has ordered an inquiry into the case. IG, Kanpur range, Mohit Agarwal said using a seized vehicle was against the law. The entire case would be inquired into and anyone found responsible would face serious departmental action.
