Haryana gangrape case: Khattar summons DGP, Rewari SP shunted out

PTI

India, All India

The chief minister directed Sandhu to ensure arrest of all the accused at the earliest, the sources said.

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar

Chandigarh: Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar reviewed with DGP B.S. Sandhu the progress in investigation into the gang rape of a young woman from Rewari and shunted out the district police chief, as raids continued at several places on Sunday to nab the three accused, including an Army man.

As pressure built on it to act swiftly, the police arrested a registered medical practitioner, who first attended to the woman, and a villager on whose property she was allegedly raped.

Mr Khattar, who had a scheduled event in Jalandhar in Punjab, cut short his visit and reached Chandigarh in the afternoon, official sources said. The sources said that Khattar summoned the Director General of Police (DGP) to his office to review the progress in the investigation.

The chief minister directed Sandhu to ensure arrest of all the accused at the earliest, the sources said.

Rewari SP Rajesh Duggal, who has been accused of failing to take prompt action, has been shunted out and will be replaced by the SP of chief minister’s security, Rahul Sharma, they said. Mr Duggal will now lead a battalion of Haryana Armed Police in Hisar.

The victim’s family had alleged that police had failed to take prompt action on their complaint and delayed action by citing jurisdiction issue between police units of Rewari and Mahendergarh districts.

The woman, a school topper hailing from Rewari who had been felicitated by the government, was abducted at a bus stop in Kanina town in neighbouring Mahendragarh district on Wednesday while she was on the way to a coaching class, police said.

She was then allegedly drugged and gangraped at a secluded spot.

The rape allegedly took place at a room housing a tubewell for irrigation.

The owner of the property, Deendayal, who was among the two people arrested, told police that the three key accused had taken keys to the room from him on the day of the incident.

The police claimed Deendayal knew about the crime, but did not report it. The police continued raids in Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and some other states to nab the three key accused, a senior official, who is part of the investigation, said Sunday.

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