A residential verification certificate allegedly issued by the Delhi Police to the Uber cab driver accused of raping a 27-year-old last week kicked up a controversy on Monday, with Commissioner B.S. Bassi calling it “fake”.
The Hindu has accessed the said certificate, allegedly issued by the Office of the Additional Commissioner of Police of South-East District to Shiv Kumar Yadav in May, from sources in the Delhi Government’s Transport Department.
The tussle between the two has exposed a loophole, not to mention dereliction of duty, in the very process that the latter follows when it comes to verification of antecedents. The system already suffers from lack of adequate guidelines governing safety standards in privately-owned commercial vehicles.
“It was on our file and is a perfectly legal document, given the fact that it was forwarded to us by the local police in response to our request for verification,” said a Transport Department official, dismissing Mr. Bassi’s claim that the certificate had been forged by Yadav and submitted directly to the Transport Department.
According to a source in the Department, the local police had been asked to verify Yadav’s physical presence at the address provided “to the best of their ability”. Instead, the police cleared Yadav only after checking whether he had any criminal cases registered against him at the local police station in Ambedkar Nagar.
The said certificate mentions as much with a line at the end of the certificate stating “This certificate is based on the record check only. The factum of his residing at the given address has not been verified by conducting filed enquiries”.
“Usually, the process consists of physical verification, in addition to enquiries from neighbours and other local residents about the seeming character of the applicant,” admitted a senior police officer.
“Clearly, neither was done in Yadav’s case. In fact, his antecedents were not run through our centralised Criminal Records Office’s database. Had that been done, his involvement in a previous rape would have been ascertained instantly. That the local police issued the certificate without adequate effort becomes clear solely in this respect.”
A police source also told The Hindu that the local police seemed to have failed at following up its investigations after Yadav’s arrest in rape case in December 2011, as his address in police records pertaining to the case was found to be incorrect.
“Yadav was also not put under surveillance by the local police after he was acquitted as mandated by several government guidelines, which require the local police to maintain a database and conduct adequate surveillance on sexual offenders post their release from prison,” the source said.
Uber rape case
Key Developments
- › Delhi police questions Uber official >Read More
- › Verification certificate of driver leaves police red-faced >Read More
- › Radio taxis banned. >Read more
- › Media pressure behind Uber ban? >Read more
- › Delhi govt bans Uber taxi operations >Read more
- › Delhi Police file FIR against Uber for cheating >Read more
- › Investigation reveales driver was accused of sexual assault in 2011. >Read more
- › Police arrest the cab driver, criminal action likely against the cab company >Read more
- › Woman raped by cab driver in Delhi >Read more
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