Gangrape case: Ahd crime branch chief withdraws from probe

A senior Ahmedabad Police officer today withdrew himself from the probe into alleged gang-rape of a 22-year-old woman, a day after she accused him of "pressurising" her to alter the crime FIR.

The investigation in the case will now be conducted under supervision of city police commissioner A K Singh.

The development came a day after the victim accused Joint Commissioner of Police J K Bhatt, who heads crime branch, of threatening her during questioning and "posing vulgar questions".

City police commissioner's office issued a statement saying Bhatt has decided to withdraw himself from the probe following the allegations levelled by the woman.

The police commissioner has accepted Bhatt's request to disassociate himself from the probe, it said, adding that further investigation will now be carried out by a special team under Singh's supervision.

To ensure that the victim does not feel uncomfortable during the investigations, Deputy Commissioner of Police Shweta Shrimali has been asked to join the probe, it said.

Other members of the team are: DCP (Crime) Deepan Bhadran and Additional DCP of Women police, Panna Momaya.

Both of them were assisting Bhatt in the probe earlier.

Meanwhile, Gujarat State Women Commission chairperson Lilaben Ankolia has urged the police to finish the probe at the earliest.

She met the victim yesterday.

"We took up this matter suo motu and asked the police to finish the probe at the earliest. I had met the victim at her residence yesterday and gave her assurance about any help she required," Ankolia told reporters here.

Police have yet to arrest any of the seven accused, including two women, in the case.

The woman, who had alleged gang rape in a moving SUV here in March, yesterday alleged that Bhatt had threatened and pressurised her to convert the FIR lodged by her into a cheating case.

Upon learning about the allegations, the police commissioner had rushed to the crime branch office and told reporters that the police are only trying to resolve the "material contradictions" that have emerged during the investigation of the case.

In a complaint lodged with Satellite police station in Ahmedabad on June 28, the woman had claimed that four unidentified persons wearing masks had abducted her from Nehrunagar area of the city in March this year in an SUV and that two of them raped her and filmed the act to blackmail her.

The woman had also stated that she was abducted again in the same SUV by three of the four accused on the night of June 27 from Maninagar area and molested her before letting her go.

While releasing her, one of the accused had told her that she was raped and molested at the instance of her boyfriend, the complaint stated.

Police had booked seven persons, including two women and the boyfriend of the victim woman, under different sections of the IPC including abduction and rape.