As the horrifying gangrape of a woman and her minor daughter in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district acquired a political hue, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav went into a fire-fighting mode and suspended the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), Circle Officer (CO) and Station House Officer (SHO).
SSP Vaibhav Krishna, SP city Ram Mohan Singh, CO Himanshu Gaurav and SHO Ramsen Singh of Kotwali Dehat have been suspended by the Uttar Pradesh government.
This move by the Chief Minister comes after officials failed to obey the deadline of arresting the criminals by 5 pm in the evening.
Along with setting a deadline for SSP, the minister also instructed the DGP to dig into the case and soon take an action.
Promising a strict lawful punishment to those involved, Akhilesh Yadav had said, "In Bulandshahr case, the state government will soon nab the criminals."
Police refutes laxity charges; three culprits booked
Uttar Pradesh Police today claimed to have held three of the accused involved in the brutal gangrape.
UP DGP Javeed Ahmed, who was rushed to Bulandshahr by Akhilesh Yadav after the incident at village Dostpur on Delhi-Kanpur highway came into limelight, identified the three detained as Naresh (25), Bablu(22) and Rais (28).
He said police had taken into custody 15 persons, all of them belonging to a nomadic tribe, last evening and interrogated them.
Three of those held who belonged to Bawariya gang have been identified by the victims and all the culprits would be booked under the stringent National Security Act (NSA), he said.
The DGP accompanied by Principal Secretary (Home) visited the site of the incident on the direction of the CM.
The police chief, however, rubbished the charge that police did not act swiftly, saying they reached the spot within 20 minutes of getting information and SSP Vibhav Krishna also arrived there.
Taking cognisance of the case, the National Commission for Women said it has sent a member to meet the victims and officials in Uttar Pradesh but added that it finds little cooperation from the state administration in such cases.
NCW chief Lalitha Kumaramangalam also questioned the genuineness of the detentions made by police in the case.
Opposition parties allege 'jungleraaj' in UP
Attacking the Samajwadi Party government over the brutal incident, opposition parties today alleged that 'jungleraaj' prevailed in Uttar Pradesh.
"The SP government and its head must tell the people if they can return the modesty of women in such a painful and heinous crime," BSP supremo Mayawati said.
Hitting out at the Akhilesh Yadav government, Union Minister Mahesh Sharma said, "When will this end? It shows that the state government has collapsed on every front. They cannot save the honour of a daughter. It is shameful and they should step down." ... it's 'goonda raj',"
Describing the incident as "chilling", "barbaric" and one that has "shocked human conscience", Congress said the state government must take decisive action in the matter.
"The gang rape incident in heart-rending, it's shocking. It has shocked human conscience. The way in presence of male members of family, a mother and daughter are traumatised and raped... it's a chilling story of how barbaric human beings can become," Congress chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala said.
Shockwaves throughout the country
A woman and her minor daughter were allegedly dragged from their car and gangraped by a gang of bandits in Bulandshahr for three hours.
The incident happened on Friday near Dostpur village of the district.
A family was on its way from Noida to Shahjahanpur when they were waylaid by bandits after their car was hit by a blunt object. They dragged the women, including a 13-year-old girl, to a nearby field and raped them while the men were tied with ropes, SSP Vaibhav Krishna said.
They were also looted of their cash, jewellery and mobile phones, he said.
One of the family members, who managed to untie the ropes, reported the matter to police, Krishna said.
