A 35-year-old Delhi Police sub-inspector, who was arrested on Saturday for sexually harassing and stalking three women and a minor girl, was on Monday dismissed from service.
The man had flashed, passed indecent remarks and stalked three women and a minor girl on a road in southwest Delhi’s Dwarka between October 17 and 20. He is currently in prison.
Deputy commissioner of police (special cell) Sanjeev Yadav confirmed sub-inspector Puneet Grewal was dismissed on Monday. Grewal was posted with the special cell — the police’s anti-terror cell.
Three incidents took place on October 17, at different places under the jurisdiction of Dwarka South police station while another took place on October 20, under the limits of Dwarka North police station.
Grewal, who was arrested from Janakpuri, has been booked in cases registered under Indian Penal Code’s sections 354-D (Stalking), 354 (molestation), 354 A and 509 (sexual harassment) and sections 8 and 10 of Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.
While the minor girl and two women gave their complaints, one woman refused to file her complaint. The police spoke to her about the incident, took suo motu cognizance and filed a case.
A police officer, who wished not to be named, said Grewal was arrested following a week-long investigation during which they scanned CCTV footage from several points in Dwarka and examined more than 100 grey Baleno cars, similar to the one that Grewal was driving at the time of incidents.
“Our teams scanned through over 150 CCTV footage clips showing more than 100 cars, similar to those which Grewal was driving, that were spotted on those stretches from where the incidents were reported. He was arrested soon after it was confirmed that he was in the car at the time of incident,” said a senior officer.
The officer also said that Grewal has claimed that he was drunk at the time of all four incidents.
Another senior officer said that the woman who did not file her complaint posted a video on October 21, on social media narrating the sexual harassment she faced from a man in grey car, while cycling in Dwarka on October 17.
The woman alleged that she was cycling near Dusshera Ground close to the DDA Sports Complex in Dwarka when she noticed a car following her.
“While cycling I noticed a small grey car the rear glass of which was shattered and it was noticeable. As I was cycling near along the footpath, the car driver started driving parallel to me. Since I ignored it and did not look towards the driver, he honked. At this, I signalled the driver to drive ahead. But the driver did not leave and he continued driving parallel to me,” the woman said in the video.
She added, “When I realised that something was not right, the man started greeting me by saying Hello. As I stopped and looked at him, the man asked for directions to reach Dwarka Sector-14. Before I could reply, I saw that he had unzipped his pants and was flashing me. I screamed at him and asked him to leave. At this, he started saying nasty things…I realised there was nobody there, cars were passing by…I was thinking whether I should start recording his acts on my cellphone or leave the place…”
According to the officer cited above, two more incidents had taken place on that day.
One of the victims, a 17-year-old girl, had reported the incident to the police by calling the control room and filing a written complaint as well.
“The woman in the video refused to file a complaint, even after we spoke to her on phone and counselled her. The other woman filed her complaint and we converted into an FIR on October 22, the day two more cases were registered. Apart from the three incidents on October 17, a similar incident took place on October 20,” said the officer.
Since the three women and the minor girl gave similar descriptions, the police suspected that the same person was involved in all the crimes.
The incidents were also almost identical – a man in grey car stalking, passing lewd remarks, touching the women and the girl inappropriately and making indecent gestures. Several teams were formed to investigate the cases, identify the suspect and bring him to justice.
“We scanned footage from CCTV cameras installed around the crime scenes. The car was spotted. Our teams followed the routes the car took after the crimes and scanned footage from over 200 cameras. This exercise led us to the place where the car was parked. The suspect turned out to be a Delhi Police sub-inspector. We arrested him after collecting evidence. Till his arrest, we did not know that the suspect was a policeman as he was not in uniform during the crimes,” the officer added.
