Assault on Army veteran: Gunner of ADM arrested
NOIDA: Police on Sunday arrested the gunner of an additional district magistrate (ADM), who along with his wife, son and four others, was booked for assaulting a 76-year-old Army veteran.
The police are yet to act against the ADM or his family members accused in the case. Circle officer 1 Avnish Kumar, the investigating officer in the case, said, “All efforts are being made to arrest the accused named in the FIR. We will take action as per procedure”.
Virendra Pratap Singh Chauhan, a retired colonel belonging to elite 1 Parachute Regiment (Special Forces) of Indian Army, is currently in jail after the ADM’S wife had filed a case of molestation and under provisions of the SC/ST Atrocities Act against him.
The gunner, Rahul Nagar, a native of Sadat Nagar in Ghaziabad, was arrested by Sector 20 police on Sunday. On Saturday, the police had arrested Jitendra Awasthi Bachchan, who works as a household help of the ADM in Noida’s Sector 29. Both Nagar and Bachchan are among seven accused named by the Noida Police for allegedly attempting to murder retired Chauhan on the morning of August 14 at Sector 29.
“We nabbed Nagar from Shahid Smarak Sthal in Sector 29. Both Nagar and Bachchan have been charged for attempt to murder, intentional insult, criminal intimidation, criminal trespass and rioting for allegedly assaulting the retired colonel,” a Noida Police spokesperson said.
The retired colonel had been booked and arrested on August 14 for allegedly molesting the wife of the ADM and allegedly hurling caste-based expletives at her. Police had booked Chauhan under section 3 (1) of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for kidnapping and molestation.
The ADM is not being named because his wife had earlier filed a case of molestation against the army veteran, and the courts have laid down that women in such cases should not be identified. Naming him and his place of posting may lead to his wife being identified.
District magistrate BN Singh had asked the police to file an FIR against the ADM for assault after CCTV footage emerged of the army veteran being pushed and kicked allegedly by the ADM.
The retired colonel, a veteran of the 1965 and 1971 wars, has been languishing in Noida’s Luksar jail since August 14 and his bail application is scheduled to be heard on Monday. After the CCTV footage emerged, the police dropped charges of kidnapping against the colonel.
The other persons named in the FIR apart from ADM, his wife and son are Rahul Nagar (gunner who was nabbed), Prashant Nagar (gunner), Jitendra Awasthi Bachchan (household help) and Rohit Gujral (property dealer).