VADODARA – Local authorities have opened an investigation and filed charges against a father-son duo for allegedly attempting to influence an ongoing investigation by making false accusations against the police.
The accused, Prafullabhai Manilal Panchal and his son Darshan Prafullabhai Panchal, allegedly reported a false robbery to the Vadodara City Police control room on June 12. They claimed that three unidentified individuals broke into their home, assaulted Prafullabhai's wife, and stole gold ornaments along with Rs 23,000 in cash.
However, subsequent investigations revealed that the reported "robbers" were in fact Bagodra police officers who had arrived at the Panchals' residence in Ranoli to interrogate Darshan Panchal in connection with a fraud case. The alleged victims had been fully informed of this fact but nevertheless chose to depict the situation as a robbery.
The complaint filed by PI M N Shaikh of Jawahar Nagar police station stated that the Panchals had even attempted to pressure the police into filing their false complaint through a lawyer. When the police explained that they had taken legal action and committed no wrongdoing, the family proceeded to send a WhatsApp message with further false allegations about a related video.
The alleged false accusations and intimidation attempt came to light on June 22, leading to the filing of charges against Prafullabhai Panchal and his son. The police are treating this as a serious offence, considering it an attempt to mislead them and obstruct their duties as public servants.
The charges against the father and son include providing false information to the police, attempting to harm state servants, and fabricating a robbery story involving law enforcement officers. The investigation is ongoing.
