Inquiry over, final report likely today

Outraged citizens waiting to see if action follows against errant cops

NVESTIGATING officer Additional Superintendent of Police (Nashik Rural) Maithili Jha has finished her inquiry in the rape case of a newly recruited woman constable at the Kolhapur Police Training School in April. ha is expected to submit her final report to Director General of Police Ajit Parasnis today, and citizens and the police force are waiting to see if strict action is taken against errant officers. espite repeated attempts to confirm the development in the investigation process, Jha, who moved back to Nashik on Monday, refused to comment on the issue.


Over to you: Additional Superintendent of Police Maithili Jha is ready
with the report, but won't reveal the secrets just yet. File pic

Earlier, Jha had submitted a preliminary report on pril 28 in the alleged rape case. Acting on the report, Home Minister R R Patil had suspended the prime accused, Inspector Dnyaneshwar Munde from the Shahupuri police station and Deputy Superintendent of Police (Home) Vijay Parkale. Superintendent of Police Yashaswi Yadav was also shunted out of Kolhapur as he had "failed to rein in" his subordinates.

"The investigation into the sexual exploitation case is over and the final report has been prepared. Some crucial decisions and observations have been made by the investigating officer after adequate evidence was found against the misconduct of senior officers at the Police Training School and Shahupuri police station," said a source.Jha, during her four-day stay at the Nagpur Police Training School, recorded statements of all the
71 women, who were undergoing training at the Kolhapur PTS.

The women trainees were shifted to the Nagpur institute after the sexual exploitation case surfaced. Their statements are likely to reveal more about the "misconduct" of male officers at the Kolhapur PTS. After Superintendent of Police Yashaswi Yadav was shunted out, Kolhapur is awaiting a new police chief. The names doing the rounds are Vitthal Jadhav, Chandrakant Daithankar, Sandeep Karnik and Vijay Jadhav. Sources said they are being considered for the post as authorities feel they are capable of handling the volatile situation in Kolhapur. Vitthal Jadhav has past experience of Kolhapur as he was posted as the district police chief during the last Lok Sabha elections for a month, said sources.