Rape accused gives cops a slip

A man accused of raping a minor girl escaped from cops' custody while being taken to the police station on Monday. Surprisingly, the officers were taking him to the police station in an auto-rickshaw. The vehicle slowed down at a spot and the accused, identified as Bittu Jatav, 27, jumped off it.

Jatav was accompanied by Constable Amit Kumar, and Home-Guards Dinesh Rana and Jaiveer. They were on their way to the Surajpur police station. The incident took place at 6.40 pm.

"The accused was being taken from the district court to Surajpur police station. He had been remanded to 14-day custody. He managed to flee into the nearby jungles," Surajpur Station House Officer (SHO) Manish Saxena said. Sources said the incident points towards the cops' negligence as Jatav was being taken in an auto- without proper arrangements.

The SHO has now ordered a probe in to the matter. "We have ordered an inquiry. Meanwhile, the constable concerned has been suspended while both home-guards have been rusticated," Saxena added.

Jatav, a native of Bulandshahr, has been booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 363 (punishment for kidnapping), 366 (kidnapping, abducting, or inducing woman to compel her to marriage), 376 (punishment for rape), and Sections 3/4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act. A new case has also been registered against him at the Ecotech police station.