3 identified in Bulandshahr gangrape; UP govt comes under fire

He said police had taken into custody 15 persons, all of them belonging to a nomadic tribe and interrogated them

Uttar Pradesh Police Sunday claimed to have held three of the accused involved in the brutal gangrape of a woman and her teenage daughter by bandits on gunpoint on Friday night after dragging the family out of a car near here, even as the Samajwadi Party government came under intense flak over the incident.

UP DGP Javeed Ahmed, who was rushed to Bulandshahr by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav after the incident at village Dostpur here on Delhi-Kanpur highway came into limelight, identified the three detained as Naresh (25), Bablu(22) and Rais (28).

He said police had taken into custody 15 persons, all of them belonging to a nomadic tribe, last evening and interrogated them.

Three of the those held who belonged to Bawariya gang have been identified by the victims and all the culprits would be booked under the stringent National Security Act (NSA), he said.

As the incident, which occurred near bypass when the family from Noida was from travelling to Shahjahanpur on NH-91, acquired a political hue, the Chief Minister went into a fire-fighting mode and suspended SSP Bulandshahr Vaibhav Kishan, SP city Rammohan Singh , Circle Officer (Sadar) Himanshu Gaurav and SHO Ramsen Singh of Kotwali Dehat, amid allegations of laxity by police.

The DGP accompanied by Principal Secretary (Home) visited the site of the incident on the direction of the CM.

The police chief, however, rubbished the charge that police did not act swiftly, saying they reached the spot within 20 minutes of getting information and SSP Vibhav Krishna also arrived there.

Taking cognisance of the case, the National Commission for Women said it has sent a member to meet the victims and officials in Uttar Pradesh but added that it finds little cooperation from the state administration in such cases.

NCW chief Lalitha Kumaramangalam also questioned the genuineness of the detentions made by police in the case.

Opposition parties alleged that the "barbaric" incident showed that "goonda raj" was at its peak in the state where Assembly elections were due in early 2017.

BJP criticised the state government for laying expressways and highways without caring for the safety and security of the users, while BSP said such heinous crimes indicated towards deteriorating law and order situation and 'jungle raj' in the state.

"The SP government and its head must tell the people if they can return the modesty of women in such a painful and henious crime," BSP Chief Mayawati said in a statement, adding comnon people, especially women, were not safe in present SP regime.