Authorities of a private bank posted at its Sector 15 Part-I and Sector 14 branches in Gurugram have been booked for criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust for allegedly harassing an IPS officer by delaying the hand-over of a loan closure letter and property deed to a staffer by 50 days instead of the stipulated 10 days, police said on Saturday.
An FIR was registered at Sector-14 police station on Friday night under sections 316(2) (criminal breach of trust) and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, based on a complaint by sub-inspector Sunil Kumar, “the reader” of the IPS officer.
Police said the IPS officer, of deputy-inspector general rank in the Haryana cadre, and her spouse, an IAS officer, had jointly taken a loan against an immovable property around four years ago from the bank’s Sector-15 Part-I branch. The property was owned by the spouse. The couple later partly repaid the loan and transferred the remaining amount to a public-sector bank this year.
The bank was required to issue a loan closure letter and return the mortgaged property deed. Officials said staff at both branches were involved in processing the documents.
In his complaint, Kumar alleged that despite completing all formalities and submitting an authority letter, he was made to “run from pillar to post” for the documents. “Though the loan was closed, the documents have been kept illegally by the bankers, which is hampering the disbursal procedure at the other bank and causing harassment. The station house officer of Sector-14 police station was also contacted multiple times, but he also failed to get the work done,” he stated in the FIR. He added that the delay extended beyond 50 days for a process that “should have been done in 10 days”.
A bank official, however, said discrepancies in the authorisation letter prevented handover. “The bank needs an authorisation letter in a proper format including a power of attorney on ₹100 stamp paper for handing over the deed… We have even told the IPS officer that bank officials would visit her and the spouse… but it didn’t materialise,” he said, adding that formalities were completed last week and the legal team is handling the matter.
Inspector Chander Bhan, station house officer of Sector-14 police station, said an investigation is underway. “As the FIR has just been registered, it may take time to reach a conclusion and to gather evidence in the matter for taking any action against anyone,” he added.
Despite multiple attempts by HT, the IPS officer could not be approached for a comment on her official phone number. Sunil Kumar also did not respond on the matter.