The tailor’s residence in Bilaspur, Uttar Pradesh. Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav
A city court has pulled up the Delhi Police in a case connected to the arrest of a 38-year-old tailor from Uttar Pradesh’s Bilaspur for the “contradictions in the exact date of arrest” and for not following protocols. The tailor was arrested for allegedly raping several minor girls in the capital.
The case was heard on June 6 at Karkardooma court by Additional Sessions Judge and Presiding Officer of Special POCSO Court Ashwani Kumar Sarpal. In the order, the judge mentioned that there was a contradiction in the dates of the arrest, as the police in its DD entry had mentioned that the accused was caught on December 13.
“The DD entry 29A dated 13.12.2016 (in Ashok Vihar Police Station) says that one boy, who was doing a wrong act with the victim, has been caught. However, the arrest of accused is shown to be on 14.01.2017. The accused was arrested at the instance of the victim subsequently of the incident, but the above two dates show some contradictions about the exact date when the accused was arrested,” stated the order.
The 38-year-old tailor, Sunil Rastogi, was arrested from Uttar Pradesh’s Bilaspur by Delhi Police on January 14. This came after a case of rape under POCSO Act was registered on December 13 at New Ashok Nagar Police Station in East Delhi area, based on the statement of a seven-year-old girl. Then, on January 10, two cases of kidnap/missing persons were registered, and police found a pattern, prompting them to arrest the accused from his rented house in Bilaspur.
The police had earlier said that they had gathered CCTV footage from near the place of the incidents to identify the accused.
However, the court said that the the police did not verify the CCTV footage and that the Test Identification Parade (TIP) of the accused was not conducted. “CCTV footage was not verified from FSL. TIP of the accused was not conducted. However, these points will be considered during trial and are not sufficient to discharge the accused,” said the judge Ashwani Kumar Sarpal.
Apart from the incident in Delhi, Rastogi has been arrested at least five times in the last nine years, jail records accessed by The Indian Express show.
