By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 20 Jan: Special Task Force (STF) has been directed to investigate how the Annual Confidential Report (ACR) of suspended ITI police station SHO Kundan Singh Rautela in the Kashipur farmer Sukhwant Singh suicide case came to be leaked. In the ACR, Rautela had received an adverse entry from the Bageshwar SP. The soft copy of the ACR has now gone viral on social media. Following this, DGP Deepam Seth has directed probe into the leakage, and following his orders, STF SSP Navneet Bhullar has directed the STF Kumaon unit to conduct the probe.
It may be recalled that Sub Inspector Kundan Singh Rautela had been posted in Bageshwar around one year ago, SP Bageshwar, Akshay Konda had given Rautela an adverse entry and recommended his posting outside the district. In this regard, DGP Deepam Seth has asserted that an ACR is highly confidential. Access to it is available only to the authorised officials and the employees. No one else can view it. Yet, after the farmer suicide case, this ACR is going viral on social media. Investigating the medium through which it leaked is extremely necessary.
In view of this, SSP STF has been ordered to probe the matter. DGP Deepam Seth stated that the dissemination of any officer or employee’s confidential report on public platforms like social media is an extremely sensitive and serious issue. The ACR is a confidential digital document, accessible only by authorised officials or employees through a secure IT or digital system.
Direct access by any other person is not possible. Given the possibility of unauthorised data access in this case and the need to examine cyber evidence, the investigation has been handed over to the STF for a technically competent probe. SSP STF Navneet Bhullar stated that, in line with police headquarters orders, a detailed investigation of all facts and technical aspects will be conducted. Meanwhile, the STF Kumaon unit has begun the probe.
It may be recalled that farmer Sukhwant Singh from Kashipur in Udham Singh Nagar had gone to the Kathgodam area in Nainital district with his wife and son for a trip. There, Sukhwant Singh had committed suicide on 10 January. However, before taking his life, the farmer had released a video on social media levelling serious allegations against the police in general and some police officers in particular. SI Kundan Singh Rautela is also under radar in the case and has been shifted out following suspension. The case is currently under investigation.
Sources in police claim that Rautela is a highly influential official and despite a highly controversial service record has not only survived in the department but has been promoted also. These sources also point out that while the police department has a right to probe the alleged leakage of the ACR of Rautela, the leaked ACR is a pointer of his controversial record. Sukhwant Singh had alleged harassment by Rautela in his viral video and blamed him for his suicide. Rautela is considered particularly close to certain very senior Police officers despite his controversial record and this closeness is also a topic of discussion on social media as well as in the police circles.
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