SOURCE : TNN
In a bizarre case of negligence linked to a vital case of national security, a parcel containing scientific evidence against an Indian Air Force employee, who had been posted in Pathankot and was allegedly caught in a Pakistani honey trap in 2014, has gone missing from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Chandigarh.
Airman Sunil Kumar Bhatti was arrested in August 2014 from the Pathankot Air Force Station for sharing vital information on the strategic base with a woman, allegedly from Pakistan, on email and social networking sites.
Documents assessed by TOI confirmed that the parcel sent to the Chandigarh CFSL for scientific examination by the Pathankot police’s Division No. 2 contained two mobiles, one tablet, one dongle and a pen drive. These items allegedly had been recovered by the Punjab police from the accused. The parcel contents were vital for the prosecution, as the accused had already refused to reveal the key patterns and number locks for these devices to the police. The disappearance of devices is a major setback for the prosecution.
The trial of Bhatti’s case is pending before the district and sessions court in Pathankot .
The documents revealed that on August 22, 2017, head constable Shiv Kumar of police station (Division No. 2), Pathankot informed the trial court that certain documents and electronic evidence had been sent to the Chandigarh CFSL, but these items had not been returned with the required assessment.
Forensic lab seeks time to produce DDR copy in court
These items (in the parcel) were necessary and had to be produced before the trial court.
However, when the court questioned the CFSL on this, Akhlesh Kumar, senior scientific officer (physics), CFSL Chandigarh, informed the court on January 16, 2018 and February 2, 2018 that the record pertaining to case was untraceable.
Finally, on March 7, 2018, the CFSL scientist accepted that the documents and articles were missing. A DDR regarding this could not be lodged by the CFSL director due to sudden demise of the chief forensic scientist and the organization sought some more time to produce a copy of the DDR in the court. The matter will now be heard on July 17, when the copy of the DDR will be produced.
Bhatti, from Rajasthan’s Jodhpur district, was arrested on August 30, 2014 from the Pathankot airbase for sharing vital information related to the Air Force through Orkut, Facebook and his email account with a Pakistani woman.
A cyber squad of the Pathankot airbase had put him under surveillance and his emails to the woman, registered in online accounts as Meena Raina, were found. As per the FIR, he had reportedly received over Rs 3 lakh on different occasions in his bank accounts from his woman friend.
On January 20, 2016, the Punjab police finally chargesheeted him for trying to wage war against the Government of India, as well as under various sections of the Unlawful Activities Act and the IT Act. Bhatti had joined the Air Force in 2008 and was dismissed immediately on his arrest in August 2014.
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