Deputy commisioner or higher rank officer to investigate Bajrangi:HC

Mumbai, Feb 22 (UNI) The Bombay High Court today directed the police commissioner to assign an officer, not less than the rank of a deputy commissioner, to investigate into the kidnappings of Patel community women (marrying intercaste) by Babu Bajrangi, the Vadodara-based president of Nav Chetan Group.

A division bench comprising Justice B H Marlapalle and Justice Roshan Dalvi directed the police to file a reply by April 13.

Arguing on behalf of the petitioner, Advocate Mihir Desai told the court that Ajay Nikam had married Geeta Patel in May 2003. In November 2004, Geeta was summoned to her parents' house in Mumbai and later she was forcibly taken by Babu Bajrangi's men to Naroda in Gujarat.

When Ajay followed her to Naroda, he was allegedly beaten up by some unidentified men, and forced to sign divorce papers, the counsel informed adding that he could contact his wife, Geeta told him that Bajrangi and his Nav Vhatan Group had kidnapped dozens of girls in similar circumstances, in every case at the behest of their parents, and of them some were married off again.

After Ajay returned to Mumbai and approached the police, he came to know about other three petitioners.

All the four petitioners claim that Joint Commmissioner of Police Meera Borvankar had assured them that police would file FIRs in these cases and action would be initiated.

The petitioners claimed that there are many such cases and in all of them, the Nav-Chetan group is the culprit.

Earlier the Court had said that if prima facie evidence was available against Babu Bajrangi, then it was against the secular fabric of the country not to take any action against him.

A Writ of Habeas Corpus has been filed by Ajay Nikam, Abhijit Sonawane, Prashant Samudre and Raju Medige.

UNI XR-ARM KD RL DS1637