On 11 February, a lawyer at Allahabad High Court named Harsh Vardhan Shastri alleged that a Dalit person named Pankaj kumar was being harassed by Bijnor police because he had filed cases against some persons. However, Bijnor police have refuted the charges, and revealed that the ‘victim’ is actually an accused in several cases including abduction and rape.
Harsh Vardhan Shastri posted on X, ‘Najibabad police station in Bijnor district wants to send complainant Dalit victim Pankaj Kumar to jail and has kept him sitting in the police station. Because he has filed an eFIR against Sandeep, Neha Sharma etc.’
थाना नजीबाबाद जिला बिजनौर @bijnorpolice फरियादी दलित पीड़ित @Pankajk80319411 को इसीलिए जेल भेजना चाहती है और थाने में बैठा रखा है। क्योंकि उसने संदीप, नेहा शर्मा आदि के खिलाफ eFIR करा रखी है।@dgpup @Uppolice @NeerajKumarJad1 pic.twitter.com/20w7PJ0qtp
— Harsh Vardhan Shastri (@HarshShast) February 11, 2024
The lawyer also posted screenshots of some eFIRs filed by Pankaj Kumar against Sandeep Sharma and Shivkumar Sharma, alleging that they have threated to kill him. Harsh Vardhan also tagged SP chief Akilesh Yadav and Bhim Army chief Chandar Shekhar Azad urging them to intervene in the matter.
Notably, Pankaj Kumar has been relentlessly posting on X that he is a victim of biased investigation by Bijnor police pushing him to the verge of suicide. He alleged that the woman who filed the rape case against him filed a ‘false case’ due to family pressure.
Responding to the tweet by the lawyer, Bijnor Police issued a statement clarifying the matter. The police categorically said that the allegations made by Pankaj Kumar are false, and he is an accused in grave crimes against the woman he is accusing of blackmailing.
Giving details of the matter, the police said that a case was filed against Pankaj Kumar by the woman under IPC sections 366 (kidnapping) and 120B (criminal conspiracy). After investigation into the case, several other sections of the Indian Penal Code like 376N (repeated rape on same woman), 323 (causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) were added. This means, while originally a kidnapping case was filed, during investigation it was found that the woman was repeatedly raped by the accused and he also had assaulted her. Accordingly, a charge sheet was filed against him on 24 October 2022.
ट्वीटर हैण्डल @HarshShast से किये गये ट्वीट के संबंध में ।#UPPolice pic.twitter.com/d2pdkHSGyF
— Bijnor Police (@bijnorpolice) February 11, 2024
Then in February 2023, another case was filed against Pankaj Kumar under IPC section 506, and then IT Act section 67 (posting obscene material) added to the case after further probe. A charge sheet was filed in this case in April 2023.
In the meanwhile, the woman and her husband filed another case against him in April 2023, again under IPC section 506 and IT Act section 67. Pankaj Kumar was arrested and sent to jail in July 2023, and another charge sheet was filed.
Then after he was released on bail, he filed a case against Shivkumar and 4 unknown persons under IPC sections 147, 452, 323, 504, 506 and section 3(2)Va of the SC/ST Act. Accordingly, police probed the case, but found that there was no basis for the allegations. As a result, the case was dismissed on the basis of the probe report filed by the police.
Bijnor Police added that the plaintiffs have filed 3 cases against the accused, and charge sheets against the accused has been submitted with the court. Pankaj is regularly sending letters to police to put pressure on the plaintiffs, the police said. They further added that he keeps tweeting his allegations and gets others also to tweet the same.
The police said that while Pankaj shared the screenshot of an eFIR filed by him, the eFIR under the shown registration number was not found on the portal. Action will be taken once the eFIR is shown on the portal, the police assured.
Bijnor police further said that Pankaj Kumar had gone to the Najibabad police station to file a complaint against the plaintiffs alleging that they gave threats to him on the phone. He was not made to site in the police station and he was not taken into the custody, as alleged by the lawyer in the tweet, the police clarified, saying that it is baseless allegation.
Notably, ever since the case was filed against him, Pankaj Kumar has been regularly posting tweets with his allegations. He has also written several letters to various police officials.
मै दलित पीड़ित हूं यदि मेरे मुकदमे मे बिजनौर पुलिस निरपेक्ष जांच करती तो मै कभी आत्महत्या कि कागार ना आता जिस लडकी ने मेरे पर झूठा बलात्कार केस किया था उसने बताया कि घर के दवाब के कारण मेरे पर झूठा बलात्कार केस किया है @bijnorpolice @Uppolice @CMOfficeUP @dmbijnor @digmoradabad pic.twitter.com/d3mOG4ut7W
— Pankaj kumar (@Pankajk80319411) January 17, 2024
Pankaj has also claimed that he has given the Bijnor Superintendent of Police a recording of the girl telling him that she filed fake rape against him under family pressure, but no action was taken.
In a letter sent to the SP, he had also alleged that he was being blackmailed by a woman named Neha Sharma after she had eloped with her. He added that after that, Neha Sharma’s husband Shivkumar Sharma filed a kidnapping case against him, and then the woman returned after taking nearly ₹1 lakh from him.
He said that after that the woman filed a case against him under sections 366 (kidnapping), 376N (repeated rape on same woman), 323 (causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation). As a result, he was sent to jail, but got bail later. Pankaj Kumar further alleged that after he was out on bail, Nesha Sharma is again harassing her using a fake Instagram ID, and her husband is aiding her in this.
He further claimed that the couple was threatening to frame him in false cases and using derogatory casteist remarks against him.
However, now Bijnor police have clarified his allegations were probed and found to be baseless. On the other hand, police established the charges of abduction, rape, intimidation against him, and accordingly have filed charge sheets against him in the court.
