Solving what eventually became one of Delhi’s most brutal gangrape cases was not an easy task for the eight-member core Delhi police team, who arrested the four of six accused within 24 hours of the barbaric incident.
As the cops did not have many clues about the case initially except that the victim was raped in a moving bus, they got hold of CCTV footage from a highway camera identifying the vehicle driving past at about 9 pm. This was their first lead. The footage showed that the bus had “Yadav” written on its side and the colour and design of the seat covers and blinds were visible. With this information, the team visited a bus stand in R.K. Puram Sector 3, close to Munirka, where the victim and her friend had boarded the bus.
According to an estimate, about 50 white buses, which are usually parked at the stand, were scrutinised and their owners verified. The cops finally traced the bus involved in the crime to suburban Noida and tracked down the bus driver, Ram Singh, the main accused in the case on December 18. Three other accused were also arrested the same day. They were Ram Singh’s brother Mukesh, Vinay Sharma and Pawan Gupta.
On December 21, the delinquent juvenile, whom the police later described as the “most brutal” in the incident, was arrested from Anand Vihar bus terminal. The next day, sixth and the final accused Akshay Thakur was also arrested from Aurangabad district in Bihar following several raids. The police also recovered the iron rod used to beat up the couple.
The police matched the accused with the sketches prepared from descriptions given to them by the victim’s friend. They also sent blank texts on the phones that the accused had snatched from the victims. One of the phones was active and that helped the police get the location of one of the accused.
The officers who made the core team were additional CP P.S. Kushwaha, assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Ramesh Chander, inspectors Rajender Singh, Anil Sharma and Atul Kumar under the supervision of the then DCP, south district, Chhaya Sharma.
