Bulandshahr gangrape case: CBI seeks custody of accused

On September 13, thr Police had arrested Hemant alias Dharmau, Munna alias Lucky alias Ayaan, Vinay alias Lambu alias Tulli and Rajbir alias Nahar Singh from Kherki Daula area. (Express Photo: Gajendra Yadav)

DAYS AFTER a gang of robbers, arrested in Haryana, confessed to their involvement in the robbery and gangrape of a woman and her daughter in Bulandshahr on July 30 last year, the CBI has decided to seek their custody.

On September 13, this year, the Special Investigating Team (SIT) of the Gurgaon Police had arrested Hemant alias Dharmau, Munna alias Lucky alias Ayaan, Vinay alias Lambu alias Tulli and Rajbir alias Nahar Singh from Kherki Daula area for their alleged involvement in several incidents of dacoity and rapes.

“During questioning, they confessed that five members of their gang were involved in a case of robbery and gangrape on a highway in Bulandshahr. Dharmau said gang members Raka, Sunil, Naresh, Ajay alias Kallia and Babloo were involved in the incident,” said Inspector Yashwant, who was part of the SIT operation.

“We arrested Raka, Sunil and Naresh from Haryana earlier this month. During interrogation, they admitted to their involvement in the Bulandshahr gangrape and robbery case. They said that on the night of the incident, they threw an iron object before the victims’ car, forcing the driver to stop. Then, they had come out of the bushes, held the family at gunpoint and dragged all of them to a field. While they tied the men, they gangraped a woman and her minor daughter,” he added.

He said the accused, however, could not tell the exact date of the incident.

“Following this, Raka, Sunil and Naresh were sent to jail. Recently, I sent their statements to the CBI, which is investigating the Bulandshahr case. CBI officials have been in touch with me since the arrest of the accused,” said Yashwant, also the in charge of Kherki Daula police station.

The three accused are lodged at Bhondsi Central Jail, he added.

“Following fresh revelations, the agency will interrogate the three accused after seeking their custody remand. The Haryana Police has sent us a report on the confessional statements of the accused,” said CBI chief spokesperson Abhishek Dayal.

On the intervening night of July 29 and 30, six members of a family, including two brothers, their wives and children, were on way to Shahjahanpur from Noida in a car. A gang of robbers had waylaid their car on the Delhi-Kanpur highway near Dostpur village. After injuring them, the gang members looted the valuables before dragging a woman and her teenaged daughter to a nearby field, where they were allegedly raped.

A case was then lodged at Kotwali Dehat police station against around five persons on charges of kidnapping, dacoity and gangrape. Six persons were later arrested, said police.

In August last year, Allahabad High Court took suo motu cognizance of the incident and directed the CBI to take over the investigation. The agency, after lodging a fresh case on charges of dacoity, gangrape and kidnapping besides the POCSO Act, filed a chargesheet against three persons.