Uttarakhand police officers face disciplinary action over house demolition of former naval officer’s widow

The Uttarakhand State Police Complaints Authority (UPCA) has formally recommended disciplinary action against two senior police officers for their alleged inaction in the case involving the robbery and demolition of a former naval officer’s house in Dehradun. In its report, the authority said the officers’ gross negligence in handling the matter in January 2022 inflicted serious economic, physical, mental and social harm on the complainant and violated her basic human rights.

The UPCA, a five‑member statutory body headed by retired judge N S Dhanik , faulted then Senior Superintendent of Police Janmejaya Khanduri and then Station House Officer Narendra Gehlawat for failing to take immediate steps to prevent the attack, not visiting the site promptly and delaying the registration of a First Information Report (FIR). According to records, the complainant, Kusum Kapoor , widow of retired naval officer Commodore Vinod Kumar Kapoor, first lodged a complaint with the Dehradun police on January 13, 2022, after a large group of alleged land mafias attacked her property in Clement Town, tied up her tenant and servant, looted valuables and razed the house with bulldozers while she was away in Noida for medical treatment. An FIR was eventually registered only on January 17, after Kapoor personally met then Director General of Police Ashok Kumar.

The bungalow, believed to have been constructed nearly a century ago and inherited by Kapoor’s family, held personal and historical significance, including family heirlooms, jewellery and armed forces memorabilia. In her complaint to the UPCA, she said that despite repeated alerts to local police, no effective action was taken to stop the vandalism and looting as it unfolded over several hours.

The authority directed Uttarakhand’s Home Department to initiate disciplinary action against both officers and report back, forwarding a copy to the state DGP to stress accountability. Khanduri, a 2007‑batch IPS officer, is on deputation with the National Crime Records Bureau, while Gehlawat now serves under the Inspector General of Police in Garhwal. This is the second time UPCA has recommended action against an IPS officer; in December 2025, it sought disciplinary measures against 2014‑batch officer Lokeshwar Singh in a separate misconduct case. Experts say the incident underscores ongoing concerns over delayed police response and weak enforcement of property rights in land mafia disputes. Despite the UPCA’s findings, the state government has not announced any punitive measures against the officers.