Ex-IPS officer Amitabh Thakur arrested for 'abetting' suicide of rape victim, her friend

Lucknow: Within hours of announcing his plans to float a political outfit ahead of the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, former IPS officer Amitabh Thakur was arrested from his residence in Lucknow on Friday on serious charges, including abetment of suicide of a rape victim and her friend in Delhi recently.

The 24-year-old woman, who had accused Bahujan Samaj Party MP Atul Rai of rape in May 2019, died on 24 August after she and her friend Satyam Rai set themselves afire outside the Supreme Court complex on 16 August. Before the suicide, both had shared their pain on social media with the people. A special investigation team (SIT) was formed to probe into the matter and it submitted its report on Friday. On the basis of the report, Amitabh Thakur was arrested from his residence and taken to the Hazratganj kotwali, a senior official said. The SIT, in its report, alleged that a total of seven cases were registered by the accused party (Atul Rai) against the victim and her witness. It claimed that Amitabh Thakur took money from Atul Rai for fabricating false evidence against the rape victim and maligned her image, inciting the woman to commit suicide. Lucknow Police Commissioner DK Thakur on Friday said the former IPS has been arrested in a case registered after the death of the rape victim. According to police sources, the case has been registered under section 120-B (conspiracy), 195-A (intimidation to produce false evidence), 218 (preparation of false record by public servant to save any person from punishment), 306 (abetment to suicide) ,504 (breach of public peace) and 506 (intimidation) against MP Atul Rai and Amitabh Thakur on a complaint of senior sub-inspector Dayashankar Dwivedi in Hazratganj Kotwali on the instructions of the SIT. Reacting to Amitabh Thakur’s arrest, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav lashed out at the BJP government in the state. “The BJP’s politics survives only by creating rifts among the people. Now due to the pressure of the BJP government, the police are compelled to work against the police. Such treatment to a retired IPS is unforgivable,” he tweeted in Hindi. The former Uttar Pradesh cadre IPS officer on Friday morning had announced that he would soon form a new political party. Amitabh Thakur was given compulsory retirement ahead of time by the government and he had announced to contest against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the assembly elections to be held early next year. He was given compulsory retirement on March 23 in “public interest” following a decision taken by the Union Home Ministry.