Police driver Gavaskar (L) had worked for ADGP Sudesh Kumar (R).Thiruvananthapuram: A new move is on to foist a case on police driver Gavaskar on charges of insulting additional director general of police (ADGP) Sudesh Kumar and family about their caste. The attempt is to charge him with provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Tribe (prevention of atrocities) Act.
The new strategy was initiated by the ADGP and his daughter after their earlier allegations against Gavaskar misfired. Kumar had alleged that the driver was careless at the wheels, and the daughter, who is accused of having assaulted Gavaskar and causing spinal injury, had alleged that he had behaved in an offensive manner.
Kumar had told the Crime Branch investigation team that he belongs to a backward caste in north India. He raised the new allegation against Gavaskar when the police team visited his house to record the daughter's statement. Kumar conveyed to the police a Malayalam word which he said the driver used as a caste insult, but added that the family could not grasp its meaning.
This issue was not mentioned in a complaint Kumar had lodged with the Crime Detachment DySP. Neither did he mention it when the officer had recorded statements from the family earlier.
The ADGP had earlier tried to pressurise the investigators by filing his complaint with DGP Loknath Behera. Kumar was not a party in the case then, but Behera handed over the petition to the Crime Branch, forcing them to record his statement also.
It is understood that an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer at the police headquarters had advised Kumar to bring up the caste slur allegation. It is also aimed at pressuring Gavaskar into a compromise move. The arrest of the ADGP's daughter is being delayed in the hope that a deal could be worked out to avoid it.
The charges are non-bailable. However, the Crime Branch hasn't responded to Gavaskar's demand that sections 307 and 326 should be included for charges including attempt to murder.
The police have, meanwhile, seized the mobile phone which the daughter is accused of having used to assault Gavaskar, but the Kumar family haven't moved for anticipatory bail, because mediating officers have promised a deal with the driver.
Contradictions in the family's claims against Gavasakar have been exposed. The daughter had alleged that the driver behaved badly and that he drove the police jeep over her feet. At the same time, her statement to the doctor as seen in hospital records proved that she had said an autorickshaw had hit her. Besides, the doctor had stated that she did not have any injury on her feet.
The motor transport department too found that nothing suggested that the vehicle had an accident. The ADGP's vehicle has been put through forensic and location tests in between. The Crime Branch did not find anyone who would endorse her claim that Gavaskar's behaviour was offending.
Hospital records prove that Gavaskar sustained serious injuries to his neck. The claims of eyewitnesses too lend credibility to his complaint.
Meanwhile, the Crime Branch is also under pressure to avoid filing a report to the High Court that could lead to the trashing of the case against Gavaskar. The High Court is considering a plea from Gavaskar which insists that the case against is based on a false complaint and hence should be annulled. The court has asked the police for a report before July 4. If the police report says the complaint was found false, the case will be annulled.
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