Chandigarh, June 03: The Punjab Police have conducted raids in Chandigarh to arrest Pankaj Bhardwaj — who played a key role in the conviction of the disgraced former Haryana DGP, SPS Rathore.
Bhardwaj is one of the key accused in a multi- crore land case lodged with the police in Amritsar.
Bhardwaj is the counsel for Anand and Madhu Prakash — parents of the sole eyewitness and Ruchika’s friend Aradhna. The lawyer did not appear in the court on Tuesday to attend the hearing on Rathore’s bail petition. Bhardwaj did not charge the Prakash family for his services.
The police said on Wednesday the lawyer had been absconding since late Tuesday to evade arrest. Bhardwaj slipped away from his Chandigarh home before a special team of the police from Amritsar reached the city to arrest him.
Deputy superintendent of police Kirpal Singh, who led the five- member team, said information about the raid was leaked to Bhardwaj. “ He fled his house before we reached,” he said. “ We will raid his possible hideouts to nab him,” Singh said.
The police said the Amritsar Improvement Trust ( AIT) had moved court three years ago for getting a piece of land in the city vacated. It was illegally occupied by a few people.
These people did not surrender the land though AIT got orders from various courts, including the Supreme Court, for vacating it.
AIT found that a company — R. K. Enterprises — had got the land transferred in its name and sold it off to a Gurgaon- based firm in 2007.
Bhardwaj was one of the directors in R. K. Enterprises.
AIT approached the police and registered an FIR against 34 people, including Bhardwaj, for fraudulently selling the government land to a private party. The Gurgaon- based company also registered an FIR for being sold disputed land.
Bhardwaj said the timing of the Punjab Police team’s action pointed to a conspiracy against him. The police wanted to pressure him against pursuing the Ruchika case.
“ There is a lobby behind it,” he said adding he would cooperate with the police. “ I will move the court to seek anticipatory bail,” he said. He had come to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday. He, however, did not name the lobby. He said he deposed before the police on April 29 to apprise them of the facts of the case.
—Agencies