Gurugram:
The Badshahpur SHO has been suspended after police allegedly cremated the body of 31-year-old realtor Yuvraj Singh Manchanda as “unidentified” without uploading its details to the inter-state police database ZipNet, a lapse that has now reached the Supreme Court and prompted disciplinary action against five police personnel.
Badshahpur SHO Rajesh Bagri was suspended in connection with the murder case, police said.
Police negligence came to light after Yuvraj’s body was recovered on September 10, but details of the unidentified body were not uploaded to ZipNet, the database used by police to share information on unidentified bodies and missing persons. The body was subsequently cremated before his family could get an opportunity to identify him.
Yuvraj’s sister, Harsimran Manchanda, approached the Supreme Court, alleging that despite the recovery of her brother’s body, its details were not uploaded to the inter-state police database.
The petition has sought formulation of a uniform Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) across the country for dealing with missing persons and unidentified bodies.
Taking cognisance of the matter, the Supreme Court has sought personal affidavits from the police commissioners of Delhi and Gurugram. Following this, action is being initiated against five Gurugram police personnel, officials said.
The investigating officer in the case, ASI Sahoon Khan, has already been suspended for alleged negligence in the identification of the body and completion of legal formalities following its recovery.
Disciplinary action is also likely against a control room official and two members of the forensic team, police said.
“A detailed investigation of the case is underway. The investigating officer in this case has already been suspended and now the SHO, Badshahpur, has also been suspended and a departmental inquiry has been initiated,” said Ayush Yadav, DCP South, Gurugram.
Yuvraj, a 31-year-old sales manager, was found dead on September 10.
Following the case, Gurugram Police have also issued fresh guidelines for dealing with unidentified bodies, a senior police officer said.
Under the new guidelines, the ACP (Headquarters) will monitor every unidentified body found in the district and has been designated as the special nodal officer for the purpose.
A senior Crime Branch officer has also been assigned special duties in connection with such cases and will report directly to the DCP (Crime), the officer said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
