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Himachal princess’ Roman holiday puzzles cops
The alleged kidnap of the princess of a small estate in Himachal Pradesh has taken a curious turn and put the city police in a Catch 22 situation. The princess, granddaughter of Mahinder Pal Singh of the Kuttlehar Royal family in Bangana tehsil of Una district, was kidnapped from Chandigarh on October 10 from outside her school Carmel Convent, Sector-9.
After a month long extensive search, police arrested the accused, Indrajit Singh Malik, from Gidderbaha in Punjab from a gurdwara, where the duo was staying on Thursday evening. The girl’s father, Repender Pal, filed a complaint against Malik and his parents of Zirakpur and other suspects. However, what has baffled the police is the fact that the minor went on her own accord with the accused and no force was apparently used to ‘kidnap’ her.
The princess being a minor and her long relationship with the boy has come into public domain and police are investigating details as to when they met and how a charge-sheet will be prepared, given that the girl knew the boy well. In a Press briefing, police did not come clear on whether the girl was lured by the boy to elope or it was mutual consent.
Since, the girl is minor and the boy, Indrajit Singh Malik, is 21 years old, police have made it a clear case of kidnapping. However, the case gives rise to the million dollar question of whether it is a case of kidnapping for ransom or an attempt by the boy’s family to arrange his marriage with a rich bride. Under normal circumstances, police usually goes for medical examination in the kidnap of a minor female. The refusal to allow police to conduct it by the girl’s mother speaks volumes about the terms and conditions laid by the affluent family. Observes say the long relationship of the girl with boy may weaken the police’s stand that it was a kidnapping case.
When contacted by The Pioneer, senior counsel RP Gupta said, “The nature of the case will be defined by police as per the material available with them. Both the minor age of girl and the nature of relations between the two will have an impact on the proceedings.” A team of Chandigarh Police on Thursday evening succeeded in freeing the princess of Kutlehar, who belonged to erstwhile princely state. A special investigation team headed by ACP, Deshraj Singh was constituted to trace the girl and to arrest the accused in the case.
According to Singh, police, on a tip-off from Mrs Kamal Singh of Sector 36, Chandigarh, who was arrested by police in the connection, traced the girl and the accused boy.
During interrogation of the boy and as per police statement of the girl, Singh said both were known to each other for the past 15 months. “The accused used to visit the home of the girl,” Singh said. On October 10, the accused had arranged a taxi and took the girl directly to a resort in Manali. The booking of the resort, where the duo stayed for seven days, was done by boy’s relative, Dr Sangeeta of PGI, who is evading police arrest. They later went to Kullu, Gurgoan, Delhi Mumbai, Goa and came back to Gidderbaha after facing financial crunch and job misfortunes. “The boy had stolen a sum of Rs 45,000 from his house,” police said.
Police said the parents of the boy are still at large and teams had been dispatched at various places in Punjab to arrest them. However, if the boy had stolen money from his house, this would show there was no involvement of his parents whom police are looking for, in yet another flaw in the case.
Meanwhile, the boy was produced before the court, which sent him to three days of police remand. The court also recorded the statement of the girl under Section 164 of CrPC.
The alleged kidnap of the princess of a small estate in Himachal Pradesh has taken a curious turn and put the city police in a Catch 22 situation. The princess, granddaughter of Mahinder Pal Singh of the Kuttlehar Royal family in Bangana tehsil of Una district, was kidnapped from Chandigarh on October 10 from outside her school Carmel Convent, Sector-9.
After a month long extensive search, police arrested the accused, Indrajit Singh Malik, from Gidderbaha in Punjab from a gurdwara, where the duo was staying on Thursday evening. The girl’s father, Repender Pal, filed a complaint against Malik and his parents of Zirakpur and other suspects. However, what has baffled the police is the fact that the minor went on her own accord with the accused and no force was apparently used to ‘kidnap’ her.
The princess being a minor and her long relationship with the boy has come into public domain and police are investigating details as to when they met and how a charge-sheet will be prepared, given that the girl knew the boy well. In a Press briefing, police did not come clear on whether the girl was lured by the boy to elope or it was mutual consent.
Since, the girl is minor and the boy, Indrajit Singh Malik, is 21 years old, police have made it a clear case of kidnapping. However, the case gives rise to the million dollar question of whether it is a case of kidnapping for ransom or an attempt by the boy’s family to arrange his marriage with a rich bride. Under normal circumstances, police usually goes for medical examination in the kidnap of a minor female. The refusal to allow police to conduct it by the girl’s mother speaks volumes about the terms and conditions laid by the affluent family. Observes say the long relationship of the girl with boy may weaken the police’s stand that it was a kidnapping case.
When contacted by The Pioneer, senior counsel RP Gupta said, “The nature of the case will be defined by police as per the material available with them. Both the minor age of girl and the nature of relations between the two will have an impact on the proceedings.” A team of Chandigarh Police on Thursday evening succeeded in freeing the princess of Kutlehar, who belonged to erstwhile princely state. A special investigation team headed by ACP, Deshraj Singh was constituted to trace the girl and to arrest the accused in the case.
According to Singh, police, on a tip-off from Mrs Kamal Singh of Sector 36, Chandigarh, who was arrested by police in the connection, traced the girl and the accused boy.
During interrogation of the boy and as per police statement of the girl, Singh said both were known to each other for the past 15 months. “The accused used to visit the home of the girl,” Singh said. On October 10, the accused had arranged a taxi and took the girl directly to a resort in Manali. The booking of the resort, where the duo stayed for seven days, was done by boy’s relative, Dr Sangeeta of PGI, who is evading police arrest. They later went to Kullu, Gurgoan, Delhi Mumbai, Goa and came back to Gidderbaha after facing financial crunch and job misfortunes. “The boy had stolen a sum of Rs 45,000 from his house,” police said.
Police said the parents of the boy are still at large and teams had been dispatched at various places in Punjab to arrest them. However, if the boy had stolen money from his house, this would show there was no involvement of his parents whom police are looking for, in yet another flaw in the case.
Meanwhile, the boy was produced before the court, which sent him to three days of police remand. The court also recorded the statement of the girl under Section 164 of CrPC.
