Absconding SHO nabbed from Prayagraj, five others held
KANPUR : Absconding SHO (Pali) Tilakdhari Saroj was arrested from Prayagraj for allegedly sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl who was left outside his police station in UP’s Lalitpur by four men after they raped her for three days, officials said on Wednesday.
ADG (Kanpur zone) Bhanu Bhaskar said Saroj was arrested from near the Allahabad high court. Five others, including the girl’s aunt and the four men who had lured her to Bhopal and allegedly raped her, had also been arrested.
These details emerged after the victim narrated her ordeal to an NGO, which approached the superintendent of police. After his intervention, an FIR was registered on Tuesday.
Besides, all 29 cops posted at the police station, where the alleged incident took place, were suspended by ADG (Kanpur zone) Bhanu Bhaskar. These included six sub-inspectors, six head constables, five women constables, 10 constables and two drivers while DIG (Jhansi) Joginder Kumar was asked to conduct an inquiry into the incident and submit his report in 24 hours.
Five of the accused (named by the victim in the FIR) were arrested in Lalitpur. These included Chandan, Raj Bhan and the victim’s aunt Gulab Devi Ahirwar while two others – Hari Shankar and Mahendra Chaurasia – were arrested from Madhya Pradesh, said Bhaskar.
Seven police teams had been conducting raids in five states, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and parts of Uttar Pradesh, for the arrest of SHO Saroj who was absconding after the Lalitpur police lodged an FIR of rape against him and others.
The police lodged cases under IPC Sections 363 (kidnapping),
376 (rape) 376 B (rape by public servant with woman in his custody), 120B (conspiracy), POCSO act and SC/ST Act after the victim (in custody of an NGO) told the counsellor how she was allegedly gang-raped by four men and then the SHO.
According to the FIR, the victim was lured by four men – Chandan, Raj Bhan, Mahendra Chaurasia and Hari Shankar. On April 22, they took her to Bhopal, where she was kept in a house in a congested lane near the railway station. The girl was allegedly gang-raped for three days before being brought back to her village (Pali) on April 26.
Meanwhile, her mother lodged a complaint with the police and met senior officers.
The victim was taken to the police station by a sub-inspector who handed her over to her aunt Gulab Devi. Inspector Saroj (SHO) asked Gulab Devi to bring the girl again to the police station on April 27 for recording her statement.
On reaching there, the inspector called the girl to his chamber where she was allegedly raped again. Thereafter, she was handed over to Gulab Devi who sent her to Kakhari village where the sister of one of the accused (Chandan) lived. On April 30, the police called the victim again and gave her custody to Childline. During one of the sessions with the counsellor, the victim told her what she had been through.
The counsellor informed the district child welfare officer, who in turn informed SP (Lalitpur) Nikhil Pathak about the sequence of events. In Lucknow, (ADG law and order) Prashant Kumar said the DIG had been asked to stay in Lalitpur till the case is solved. ADG (Kanpur zone) would also camp in Lalitpur.