Haridwar minor’s rape-murder accused held from Gorakhpur

HARIDWAR: Uttarakhand police arrested the second accused in the rape and murder of a 10-year-old Haridwar girl from Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur on Sunday after a weeklong manhunt.

Haridwar city superintendent of police (SP) Kamlesh Upadhyay said police teams comprising cops, intelligence unit personnel, special task force (STF) and special operation group (SOG) had been formed to nab the co-accused, Rajiv Yadav, a property dealer and a resident of Rishikul colony in Gorakhpur.

“Yes, the police team has succeeded in nabbing the accused Rajiv from Uttar Pradesh. He is being brought to Haridwar and further details will be divulged as soon as the police team reaches here,” said the SP.

Rajiv’s location could be traced to Sultanpur area of Gorakhpur district based on the interrogation of his younger brother Gaurav, who was held on Saturday.

Gaurav alias Gambhir Yadav was arrested on Saturday evening, when he was trying to leave for Uttar Pradesh, purportedly to hand over money to Rajiv.

Earlier, Rajiv’s nephew and the main accused, Ram Tirath, was arrested within hours of the alleged sexual assault and murder on December 20.

The case came to light last Sunday, December 20, after the girl, who went missing around 3pm while playing outside her house, was found dead, with her body tied with ropes inside a neighbouring apartment occupied by the two accused.

During the post-mortem examination, she was found to have been raped and murdered, causing rage among the locals.

Police were under pressure to arrest Rajiv as family members, relatives, neighbours, social, political and religious organisations were holding protests and candle marches daily.

On December 24, Uttarakhand government formed a team under deputy inspector general (DIG), Garhwal range, Neeru Garg, to probe the rape and murder case.

Uttarakhand director general of police (DGP) Ashok Kumar had increased the ₹20,000 bounty on Rajiv’s head to ₹1 lakh two days ago and DIG Neeru Garg had assured the aggrieved family that the co-accused will be arrested soon. Garg has been camping in Haridwar and coordinating the police team operations for the past few days.

State cabinet minister Madan Kaushik and tourism minister Satpal Maharaj lauded the efforts to crack the case.

“Everyone is shocked by the heinous act. Such immoral acts are destroying the ethical culture of our country. We demand stringent capital punishment for the accused and pray that every child remains safe,” said DPS Ranipur school principal Anupam Jagga.