The swoop down on Aam Aadmi Party President Amit Palekar by the Crime Branch investigating the ghastly Banastarim accident case throws up intriguing questions, giving the case yet another twist. The crime branch arrested Palekar on Thursday for allegedly attempting to mislead the police by planting a dummy car driver named Ganesh Lamani.
In its say before the court opposing his bail to Palekar, the crime branch has maintained that he conspired to project Lamani as the driver. The AAP president was booked under various sections: 201 (destruction of evidence), 202 (intentional omission to give information of an offence by a person legally bound to inform), 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 212 (harbouring offender), 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 120-B (criminal conspiracy).
Action against Palekar, which comes 25 days after the accident, is surprising because the Mardol police, who claimed to be in contact with him, did not make such a case when it was in their jurisdiction. In fact, when the social media space was agog with accusations about Palekar's involvement, the Mardol police went silent.
The timing of Palekar's arrest is baffling and raises strong suspicion of ulterior motives beyond the realm of justice. If there was prima facie evidence of the AAP president trying to mislead the police, why did the Mardol police ignore it? If the car driver testified before the crime branch, why did he not do so before the Mardol police?
The Palekar arrest gives an interesting twist to the Banastarim case, which now appears to be drifting towards a new course. It just gives the impression that the police are more resolute in cracking down on Palekar than probing the main accused.
Lest we forget, the police chose to ignore the eyewitness account of a person who narrated the accident after being physically present a few metres away from the scene and recounting how lucky he was to have missed being hit by the ill-fated Mercedes car. The police chose not to go with the version that the wife was driving the vehicle in an intoxicated condition.
Given the severity of the offence, the police should have promptly explored all angles and, if needed, arrested Palekar if it was confirmed that a dummy driver was presented before the police. While the case is tangled in various complexities and police action falling short, such action is bound to stir up political emotions since Palekar forms part of the Opposition space. Palekar, too, has not stopped short of giving it a political twist by claiming that he got a call a few days back to join the BJP, a claim that appears too far-fetched given his status as a non-MLA.
The crime branch exuded confidence against Palekar, but some of the sections applied against him are baffling. If the crime branch is genuinely into the case, there is a lot of groundwork to be covered to present a water-tight case against the prime accused so that the case is taken to its logical conclusion.
