Mumbai: Months after a minor victim of sexual abuse died in an road accident after being knocked down by a truck under mysterious circumstances, the Bombay High Court has ordered the Navi Mumbai police to probe the matter and submit a report.
A division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justice AS Gadkari and Justice Prakash D Naik has asked the Uran police station to probe the incident in a time-bound manner.
The petitioner in the case is Noor Aalam alias Babloo Matiuddin Khan, the brother of the victim.
The suspect in the case of sexual assault is Dr Abdul Rehman Anjaria, who was booked under the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) has remained untraceable since the incident was registered in 2020.
The boy died in an accident after being knocked down by a truck on 28 September, 2022 in Uran.
The next hearing is scheduled on March 9.
“We direct the Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Navi Mumbai to file his affidavit in response to the petition qua the investigation of C.R. No. 275 of 2022 registered with Uran police station after perusing entire evidence collected by the said investigating officer and also in the context of allegations made by petitioner regarding motive behind the said crime,” the bench has said in its order.
The petitioner was represented by Advocate Ghanshyam Upadhyay and Advocate Manoj Singh.
The Public Prosecutor has informed the court that the Investigation Officer has filed A-Summary report in the matter – closing the case.
In a serious observation, the court has asked the Navi Mumbai police to look at the role of the Investigation Officer.
The POCSO Act case was registered in January 2020 against Dr Anjaria, a local politician, social worker and influential person, who was the officer bearer of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and had even unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha elections.
During 2019-20, the boy, then around 17, was subjected to sexual abuse several times by the suspect, who is a resident of Vikhroli.
The case (FIR No. 25/2020) was registered with the Saki Naka police station.
The anticipatory bail application of the accused has been rejected by the Bombay High Court and Supreme Court, however, he has not joined the investigations.
The petitioner Noor Aalam has pointed out that his brother died in a suspicious accident on 28 September, 2022. “The vehicle involved in the accident had a non-visible registration number. The registration number was kept in a blur condition and it was not possible to note it,” he said, pointing out that the driver of the vehicle was never traced. “The most important witness of the case (the victim and his brother) was eliminated at the instance and behest of Dr Anjaria,” he alleged.
