Ludhiana: A local court and the Punjab and Haryana high court have hit out at the city police for failing to reinvestigate a 16-year-old abduction and attempted murder case involving Dr Sumeet Sofat. Despite a 2014 judicial order for a fresh probe into influential suspects, police allegedly submitted a “verbatim reproduction” of a previously rejected cancellation report.Judicial magistrate Karun Kumar noted there was no evidence of any actual investigation over the last decade, rejecting the latest police filing. Simultaneously, the high court described the situation as a “sorry state of affairs” following a contempt petition filed by Dr Sofat against 20 successive station house officers.Justice Vikram Aggarwal observed a potential attempt to shield the accused and has directed the Punjab director general of police (DGP) to file a personal affidavit and status report within two weeks. The courts are now demanding full case diaries and witness statements to ensure an independent review of the long-stalled proceedings.
