Police soft-pedal assault case of IAS officer's hubby

BHOPAL: Property dispute involving additional chief secretary Ajita Bajpai Pande's husband and a family of Sonagiri locality is getting murkier with the administration and the police allegedly siding with the powerful people and trying to victimize the other party. Vandana, wife of Sonagiri resident Sanjay Soni, who was jailed on charges of attempt to murder a few days ago, alleged at a press conference here that she and her family members were getting threats apparently from people close to Amit Pande, the husband of state's additional chief secretary.
Sanjay was arrested on the charges of attempt to murder after he opened fire on Amit Pande and others when they allegedly refused to vacate the property in question at Zone I, MP Nagar on April 21.
"On May 23, a group of people barged into the house of S N Nair in Sonagiri and allegedly made a murderous assault on him. Later, on the basis of Nair's statement, the police booked Pande and another person on the charges of house trespass and voluntarily causing hurt. Nair sustained some two dozen stitches on his head and other parts of body. But the police registered a weak case again him due to the influence of his wife, who is the IAS officer," Vandana alleged.
S N Nair's wife, Vimla Pillai and her minor daughters, Srija and Surya also came forward with Vandana and said the sole breadwinner of the family is battling for life in hospital while the family is struggling to get justice.
Vandana and Vimla Pillai threatened self-immolation in front of the chief minister's house, if they did not get justice. They claimed that Soni had opened fire in self-defence and he did not hurt anyone. "But, he was immediately sent to jail on charges of attempt to murder, whereas the one who barged into house of Nair and made a murderous assault on him to get keys of disputed shop were booked for minor offences.
This indicates the clout and influence of Amit Pande on police," the duo alleged. The matter of disputed property in question is pending in court. Police officials refrained from coming on record for reasons of registering a alleged weak case against Pande saying that the matter was still under investigation.