The Haryana government on Sunday shunted out Rewari’s Superintendent of Police (SP) Rajesh Duggal and replaced him with Rahul Sharma as the failure in arrest of the accused in the horrific gang rape of a 19-year-old girl continued to embarrass Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
On Sunday, the CM reviewed the progress in investigation with DGP BS Sandhu at the CMO in Chandigarh after cutting short a scheduled event in Jalandhar in Punjab. He reportedly told Sandhu to arrest the accused in the case as soon as possible.
“CM called me and discussed this heinous crime. I briefed him about the whole incident, the investigation done by police and the action taken. On part of inaction by local police, CM has transferred Rewari SP,” Sandhu was quoted as saying by ANI.
The DGP confirmed that the police have made two arrests and are working on the information provided by the two.
One of those arrested is the owner of the property where the girl was found. The second is a registered medical practitioner who attended to the woman.
The police said that the owner of the property gave the keys of the room to the accused youth where they committed the crime on 12 September. The police claimed the owner knew about the crime, but did not report it.
According to the police, the doctor was called by the accused when the condition of the victim deteriorated. The police said that the medical practitioner did not inform the police though he knew that the victim was sexually assaulted. The doctor has claimed that he was threatened by the accused.
In a related development on Sunday, the family of the gang-rape victim rejected the compensation cheque of Rs 2 lakh sent by the Haryana government.
“Is this the value that the Haryana government has calculated for the gruesome crime committed on my daughter? We reject the compensation offered. We want justice for our daughter,” the mother of the victim said in Rewari.
The victim’s family members told reporters in Mahendragarh’s Rewari that she was in “acute trauma”.
“The accused should be hanged,” the woman’s mother demanded.
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.
Police is busy conducting raids in Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and some other states to nab the three key accused, one of whom is an Army man posted in Rajasthan.
Police had on Saturday released photographs and names of the accused – Pankaj, Manish and Nishu. The victim had identified the three attackers but her family says that there could be more.
The Haryana Police had set up a special investigation team headed by Mewat SP Naazneen Bhasin, and announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information leading to the arrest of the accused.
The police have already questioned nearly 100 people including relatives, friends and fellow villagers of the accused to know their whereabouts.
On Saturday the Indian Army said on Saturday that it will help in the investigations related to the gang rape.
Speaking to reporters, Lieutenant General Cherish Mathson, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief South Western Command, said that the Army will not shelter criminals in the force.
“If an army man is involved in the crime we will facilitate that the person is caught and booked for rape. We do not shelter criminals,” he was quoted as saying by ANI.
Read More: We do not shelter criminals, says Army
Meanwhile, Opposition parties in the state have demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda met the victim’s family on Sunday.
Hooda had previously said that there has been a complete breakdown of the law and order situation in Haryana under the current government. He demanded resignation of CM Khattar on moral grounds for the state’s alleged failure to protect its daughters.
(With inputs from agencies.)