After a 35-year-old Noida woman and her teenage daughter were gang raped at Dostpur village along the Delhi-Kanpur highway (NH-91) near Bulandshahr district in western UP, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav issued an ultimatum to nab the culprits. Within hours the state police swung into action and arrested three persons on Sunday after the victims identified them. What you don't know is that a police post was located no more than a 100 meters away from the scene of the crime. This is the shoddy state of affairs in Uttar Pradesh.
PTI/Representational Image
According to UP DGP Javeed Ahmed, the main accused has also been identified and a manhunt involving 15 special teams is out to nab the culprit. The police suspect the role of a nomadic tribe in northern India, the Bawariyas, in the crime.
Taking a note of the horrific crime, the state government on Sunday suspended Bulandshahr Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Vaibhav Krishan for dereliction in handling the crime. Six others, including SP (city) Rammohan Singh, Circle Officer (Sadar) Himanshu Gaurav and Station House Officer Ramsen Singh of Kotwali Dehat, were put under suspension.
PTI/UP DGP Javed Ahmed visiting the spot
At around 1.30-2.00 am ¨C said UP DGP ¨C the criminals hiding in the bushes along the road threw a blunt metal object at the car in which the victims were travelling to Shahjahanpur, to attend the terahnvi (rituals held 13 days after a death) of a relative. When the driver stopped the car to assess the damage, robbers emerged and overpowered the occupants of the vehicle at gunpoint. ¡°The hands and legs of the men were tied and they were kept in the jowar (millet) fields. Meanwhile, the car was taken inside, driven on the kuchcha road and two of the females were assaulted,¡± he added.?
Notably, the incident took place barely 100 meters from a police post. Where was the highway patrol team? Uttar Pradesh claims to have country¡¯s first highway patrol force. Named the UP Highway Police (UPHP), the 24x7 force comprising over 750 personnel have been trained at the Royal New Zealand Police College.
Ahmad added that while there was a police car on the highway, the family was taken too far inside the fields. ¡°Their screams could not be heard,¡± he added. But does this argument hold ground? No. Why the police van parked at a distance did not intervene when the car was stopped? ?
The victims ¨C according to the top cop ¨C made distress calls to the police on emergency number 100 from their mobile phone, but the call went unanswered. They then called some acquaintance. ¡°Around 4.30 am, officers from the nearby police station reached the spot,¡± said the top cop.
The victims were rescued hours later ¨C at around 5.30 am. Why? What were the cops waiting for during this 3-hour period?
PTI/Representational Image
DGP Ahmad said the victims were taken for a medical examination and forensic evidence were collected soon after the police reached the crime scene. But when this correspondent went to the spot at around 7 pm on Sunday, a blue purse and a golden necklace was lying abandoned there. It raises serious questions on the efficiency of the police team which were supposed to collect the forensic evidence. Why did they not recover the two vital pieces of evidence in over 24 hours of the crime?
Indian Express/Necklace lying abandoned at crime scene
Farms on either side of the highway disappear into darkness as the sun sets. The area along the NH-91 is already deserted. Streetlights are few and far between, the gap extending to more than 10 km on the Noida side.