Posing as a freelance journalist, Utsav lunged forward, stabbed Rathore three times on the face and punched him while the cop was barely 15 feet away from his car.
Utsav Sharma, a 29-year-old ‘mentally unstable’ student of the National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad, attacked former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore, accused of molesting teenager Ruchika Girhotra in 1990, with a sharp-edged pocket knife outside the Chandigarh court on Monday. Posing as a freelance journalist, Utsav lunged forward, stabbed the 68-year-old Rathore three times on the face and punched him while the cop was barely 15 feet away from his car after attending morning proceedings in the court. Rathore was taken to a hospital and declared stable after receiving medical attention.
The police arrested Utsav and seized the knife. Initial investigations have revealed that Utsav hails from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and is pursuing a course in animation at NID. Utsav’s parents, who are professors, told the police that their son was undergoing psychological treatment — a fact confirmed by his doctor. “His parents have told us that he had a psychological problem. For the last one month, he was staying in Panchkula,”
said SS Srivastava, senior superintendent of police.
The police said Utsav had joined media persons outside the court posing as a freelance journalist. He had a camera with him and pretended to take photographs of Rathore before attacking him. He told the police he was “too disturbed to hear that Rathore had been awarded no punishment despite molesting a teenage girl.”
The police have ruled out any motive behind the attack. “He seemed angry and got a feeling that justice has not been done to Ruchika. He carried out the attack under psychological imbalance,” the police said.
Utsav’s father SK Sharma said his son was a brilliant student and one has to find out what is on his mind. “He should not have done that. He should not take the law in his hands,” said Sharma, adding that his son had also completed a course in Bachelor of Fine Arts.
A bleeding Rathore regained his composure after the attack, covered his bleeding face with a handkerchief and rushed to the hospital in his car with wife and counsel in the case, Abha. He returned for the post-lunch hearing in the case amid tight security with a bandage on his cheek and neck and blood stains on his jacket. Though the judge offered to adjourn the in-camera trial for the day, Rathore insisted on carrying on with it.
The district court here had started fast-track hearing in two cases - related to the appeal filed by Rathore against his conviction for molestation by the CBI special court and on the application moved by the CBI seeking extension of his sentence from six months to two years rigorous imprisonment. Rathore was convicted in December last year for molesting Ruchika in Panchkula in 1990. She committed suicide three years later. Ruchika’s family lawyer Pankaj Bhardwaj termed the attack on Rathore as unfortunate.
— With inputs from agencies
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}