Hisar: A court here has ordered an inquiry by the divisional commissioner and district magistrate into a nine-minute gap in CCTV footage at the CIA police station and alleged lapses in preserving the recording in a case concerning the alleged illegal detention of Promila, wife of an accused in the Jivan Kundu murder case.Judicial magistrate first class Avishake Garg noted that police gave contradictory explanations about the sixth camera, initially saying it was defective and later stating that its recording had not been preserved, advocate Praveer Arya, who represents Promila, said.The footage from Aug 4 showed an interruption between 6.20 pm and 6.29 pm. The court noted the footage had not been secured despite judicial directions and the court was allegedly informed about data corruption only on Oct 3.The divisional commissioner and district magistrate will examine camera coverage, the recording gap, the claim of data corruption and the role of police officials. Action will follow in accordance with law if wrongdoing is established, it said.While disposing of Promila’s main application, the court said the available documents were insufficient to conclusively establish illegal detention. It ordered a separate inquiry into the handling of CCTV evidence, citing the Supreme Court judgment in Paramvir Singh Saini vs Baljit Singh.Promila had alleged that police took her and her mother-in-law, Indra Devi, from their home around 1 pm on Aug 4 and did not produce them before a court within 24 hours. She said they were taken to the HTM and CIA-1 police stations and kept overnight. She alleged she was later taken to the civil hospital and detained at the women’s police station before both women were produced in court on Aug 6 at 4.20 pm.Police told the court that the women had been moved to a safe location to protect them from an angry crowd and a possible threat to their lives. The court noted that no corresponding daily diary entry had been made at the police station. Jivan Kundu, a resident of Surya Nagar, was allegedly beaten to death by 10-12 people on Aug 4. Three accused — Ramesh Sharma, Saurabh alias Mold and Vishal alias Baba — were reported to be absconding.
