Alwar gang-rape case: Lapses by police & how they misled seniors

JAIPUR: It was only on the morning of Monday when the polling in the state for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections had begun that it dawned on the top-brass of the state police that the Alwar police had not shared the complete picture about the gravity of the gang-rape case with them as the horrifying video already spread like a wildfire by then.
Even as an Inspector General (IG) level officials is probing the alleged lapses by the Alwar police, the sources informed TOI that district SP, Dr. Rajeev Pachar shunted of the district for his inept handling of gang-rape case had failed to assess the heinousness of the crime.
Senior officials confided with TOI that Dr. Pachar should have told the Range IG and Police Headquarters (PHQ) the very day matter came to his notice on April 30, and simultaneously a team of trusted cops should have been dispatched to apprehend the criminals. “He failed to sense the case and its ramifications,” the official said.
However, Dr Pachar claimed that he had followed all requisite protocols in the case. “FIR was registered into the case and I had took all the steps including alerting the cyber cell and to put phone number for tracking,” he said. The sources told TOI that it was only when the senior officials began to pare down the case that they found multiple lapses including the fact that the gang-rape had taken place on April 26, and the FIR was registered only on May 2.
There were reports of the police being overworked due to elections, however, the sources in PHQ said that adequate reserve, drawn from central armed forces, Rajasthan Armed Constabulary and cops from other state police was already deployed in Alwar and there was no dearth of cops there.
“Firstly, the Station House Officer (SHO) was not enlisted in the election duty. Secondly even if he was engrossed in law and order tasks, some other investigation officer (IO) could have investigated the case, or Alwar police could have sought help from the PHQ. Like in Sikar kidnapping case, we would have roped in dedicated agencies like Special Operations Group (SOG) of Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) to track down the five accused,” the official said, adding that Dr Pachar was put under APO for clear lack of sensitivity.
The state police, however, refuted the reports of Alwar police concealing the case due to political ramificatons ahead in the poll-bound city.
“There were indeed multiple VVIP and VIP visits in Alwar ahead of elections. The security arrangements were of course the priority but it does not mean that a case of such immediate urgency could be put on the back burner. It indicates sheer lack sensitivity and unwillingness in registration of the FIR,” an official said.