Bulandshahr gangrape: Three sent to judicial custody while Oppn demands Akhilesh Yadav's resignation

A day after a 35-year-old woman and her 14-year-old daughter were gangraped by a group of dacoits near Bulandshahr, three suspects have reportedly been arrested. They have been sent to 14 days of judicial custody.

The three have been brought in for questioning and may be arrested soon, Hindustan Times quoted Uttar Pradesh DGP Javed Ahmed as saying. They were identified by the mother and daughter from a stack of photographs pulled from the police database of tribal criminals.

The police identified the three accused as Babloo, a resident of Faridabad, Naresh from Bhatinda in Punjab and the third as Raees Ahmad, who belongs to Sutari village. Around 17 tribals from nearby villages have also been detained.

The Akhilesh Yadav government also suspended Bulandshahr senior superitendent of police Vaibhav Krishan for dereliction of duty. Along with him, six other officers too have been suspended, reported The Times of India .

A special team of 300 police personnel from Ghaziabad, Noida, Hapur and Meerut with experience in dealing with tribal criminals has also been formed. According to latest reports, Anis Ansari will be posted as the new SSP of Bulandshaher.

FLASH: Anis Ansari to be posted as the new SSP of Bulandshaher (UP)

— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) August 1, 2016

Director General of Law and Order Daljeet Chaudhary said that a total of 15 police teams were now involved in the operations, and that the case will be solved soon. Yadav has given a deadline of 24 hours to arrest all the culprits.

The gangrape occurred when the victims’ car was stopped on NH91 by a group of dacoits. The family was on its way to Shahjahanpur on Friday night when their car was waylaid near Bulandhsahr. The women were dragged to a nearby field and the family was robbed at gunpoint.

As Firstpost had reported earlier, the victims had approached the Dehat Kotwali police station to file an FIR. However, the SHO did not respond to the complaint. According to reports, the police also did not answer calls on the emergency helpline number.

DGP Ahmed however, rubbished these claims and said that the police reached the spot in 20 minutes.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) also sent a three member team to probe the incident. NCW member Rekha Sharma said, “The incident is a result of lackadaisical attitude of police and we will seek report from the UP government. Right now, the minor victim is traumatised and is also running fever. Her rehabilitation is our primary concern. Once she is a little better, we will conduct counselling sessions for her.”

One of the members said that under the present state government, “the compensation of a lost honour was Rs 1 lakh".

Opposition parties were quick to attack the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh.

Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati demanded stern action against the accused and claimed that there was “complete jungleraaj” in Uttar Pradesh. She also said such “heinous” crimes indicate the law and order in the state is deteriorating.

Congress spoesperson DP Singh called the incident shameful. “The manner in which the crime was committed on a national highway indicates poor law and order situation in UP," he said.

Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Raj Babbar said the Bulandshahr incident was yet another blot on UP.

Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi too expressed his shock over the incident and demanded quick action.

Shocked to learn of the brutal rape of a minor girl &her mother in Bulandshahr. Swift action must be taken to punish the guilty

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 31, 2016

BJP state unit general-secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak also claimed law and order has derailed in UP and the police administration has become lax. “It’s a slap on the face of police administration, which makes tall claims of ensuring safety of the people,” he said.

Opposition parties on Monday also demanded Yadav’s resignation.

With inputs from agencies.