Haryana gangrape: Rewari SP shunted; 2 arrested, main accused still on the run

The Superintendent of Police (SP) of Haryana's Rewari district, who has been accused of failing to take prompt action in the gangrape of a young woman, has been shunted out by the Haryana government. 

Rewari SP Rajesh Duggal will be replaced by the SP of chief minister's security, Rahul Sharma. 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 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 woman was recovered from a room housing a tubewell for irrigation.

Meanwhile, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar reviewed with DGP B S Sandhu the progress in investigation into the gangrape of the 19-year-old woman as raids continued at several places on Sunday to nab the three accused, including an Army man.

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.

Two arrested, raids conducted to nab main accused

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 found.

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.

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.

"Multiple teams are at job to nab them. We are hopeful of arresting the accused soon," he said.

Some people have also been rounded up for questioning in connection with the case, police sources said.

The woman's family members told reporters in Rewari on Sunday that the woman was in "acute trauma".

"The accused should be hanged," the woman's mother told reporters in her village in Rewari.

Family returns Rs 2 lakh cheque

She also said that the family has decided to return a cheque of Rs 2 lakh handed over to them on Saturday by district administration officials under the Haryana Victim Compensation Scheme, 2013.

"We do not want this cheque. Is this the price which is being put for honour of my daughter. All we want is justice. We used to hear about long arm of the law, but what is police doing. The accused are yet to be arrested," she said.

Police have provided security to the victim's family.

Doctors at the civil hospital, Rewari, said that the victim's condition was stable, though she was in trauma.

Rs 1 lakh reward for info on accused

The Haryana Police had set up a special investigation team (SIT) headed by Mewat SP Naazneen Bhasin, and announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information leading to the arrest of the accused.

Police had Saturday released photographs and names of the accused, who have been identified as Army jawan Pankaj, Manish and Nishu.

The accused live in the same village in Rewari and they knew the woman and her family, police said.

Lt Gen Cherish Mathson, who heads the South Western Command of the Army, had said in Jaipur Saturday that they would help the police in the probe.

The victim's father has said 8 or 10 men may have raped her but she could identify only three of them.

The case evoked sharp reaction from opposition parties who have demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on moral grounds, saying the state had failed to protect its daughters.

(With PTI inputs)