GHAZIABAD: Two constables of a police station in Ghaziabad were booked on Wednesday for allegedly trying to help a 20-year-old accused, who had set ablaze a minor girl in Meerut in a bid to kill her, evade arrest in the crime. The 14-year-old girl, a Class 10 student in Sardhana area of Meerut, who has been admitted to the Safdarjang Hospital, was set ablaze on August 17.
An FIR had been registered against six persons, including the main accused Rohit Saini, at Sardhana police station in Meerut following the attack on the girl. However, Rohit, along with his uncle Chaman allegedly connived with two cops at the Link Road police station in Ghaziabad to get himself falsely implicated in a relatively minor offence so that he could escape his impending arrest in Meerut.
On August 17, Meerut police had arrested five persons accused in the crime against the minor girl. They were booked under Section 307 (attempt to murder) apart from half-a-dozen other offences like sections 323 (physical assault), 504 (criminal intimidation) of IPC and relevant sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. Rohit, however, had gone absconding immediately after the crime.
According to sources, constables Ram Gopal and Jai Govind of Link Road police station then falsely implicated Rohit, a vegetable vendor, in a case of liquor smuggling on the night of August 20. They registered an FIR against him under the Excise Act and got him arrested. However, the plan did not work well as Rohit was granted bail which they did not expect. Their plan was to stay in jail for some time and also show that they were not in Meerut at the time of the attack on the minor girl.
“Rohit, who was presented in a local court on August 22, however, was granted bail. The role of the two cops in helping Rohit was established in an inquiry conducted by circle officer Rakesh Kumar Mishra. The FIR against Rohit in Link Road police station was bogus. The two accused cops had intentionally framed him in a false case in order to help him evade arrest in the attempt to murder case against the minor girl. They have been suspended. The SHO of Link Road police station and the in-charge of Maharajpur police outpost have been relieved of their duties for failing to conduct a proper investigation. They have been asked to report to the police lines with immediate effect,” SSP, Ghaziabad, Vaibhav Krishna told TOI.
In the FIR against the two cops, registered under Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and various other sections of IPC, Rohit’s uncle, Chaman, has also been named as an accused. Chaman, who lives in Khurja of
Bulandshahr district, is a relative of Ram Gopal and had allegedly masterminded the plot to help Rohit evade arrest in connivance with the two cops.
“Rohit was arrested in Meerut after he was granted bail by a court in Ghaziabad. He had allegedly been harassing the minor girl, her parents said. The girl’s father, a grocer, had found her in possession of a mobile phone on August 16. On sustained questioning, she revealed that Rohit had gifted it to her. The girl’s parents scolded Rohit over the phone and subsequently complained to his parents about his overtures towards their daughter. The girl’s parents alleged that Rohit and his group of friends barged into their house on the morning of August 17 and had a quarrel with them. They allegedly poured
kerosene over the girl and set her ablaze. The FIR was registered on the basis of the girl’s formal statement recorded later on,” Sardhana circle officer DSP Santosh Kumar told TOI.
Representative image 
