New Delhi: The Haridwar district police Thursday arrested a man accused of abducting and sexually assaulting a minor girl, after he was detained under Operation Kalanemi, an ongoing statewide crackdown on fake sadhus and saints. The accused, identified as Deepak Kumar Saini (40), had allegedly been moving around the district disguised as a “baba” wearing a tiger skin loincloth, giving people “blessings of Lord Shiva to fulfil their wishes”.
ThePrint had last month reported on the launch of Operation Kalanemi by the Uttarakhand Police on Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s directions. At least 150 arrests have been under the operation so far. Operation Kalanemi was initiated following intelligence reports about the use of false identities and disguises near religious sites during Operation Sindoor.
Saini, a resident of Haridwar, has a number of criminal cases against him—apart from the latest one under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act—including harassment and dowry, Haridwar Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Pramendra Dobhal said Friday.
Local police units first spotted Saini in the Chandi Ghat area of the holy city, and his subsequent movement raised suspicion, SSP Dobhal said in a statement.
When police asked Saini about his whereabouts, he revealed his identity and residential address. While nothing alarming came out initially, a detailed verification of his background revealed the list of criminal cases registered against him.
After further interrogation, Saini was taken into custody by the Haridwar police.
‘Tale of Facebook accounts & sexual assault of minor’
After Jwalapur police station personnel had apprehended Saini, they were informed by the Shyampur police station in the same district that he had been on their radar for nearly a week in a case of sexual assault of a minor.
Police said Saini had been dressing up as a “baba” to dupe people.
“He used to run two Facebook accounts in the name of Daksheshwar and Balaji Dham. He has been married thrice and has been accused of torture and harassment in marriage on several occasions,” said a Haridwar district police officer.
The POCSO case against him was registered last Saturday when a parent approached the Shyampur police station alleging their minor daughter was made to consume some intoxicating substance and then sexually abused.
According to an Uttarakhand police officer, who did not wish to be named, Saini was returning from the Chandi Devi temple in Haridwar on 22 July when he spotted a family, including a minor girl.
“The family complained that he said the girl had extraordinary powers and that she could achieve everything in the world. She was made to eat something, and as she began to lose consciousness, he offered his car to help her commute before her parents could make their way on foot,” a police officer told ThePrint.
Saini then allegedly took the minor to a jungle on the way down from the temple and sexually assaulted her. “The girl never complained about the incident to her parents due to a warning by Saini, but eventually had to reveal it as she developed pain in her stomach. An FIR was registered Saturday,” another police officer said.
Coincidentally, on the same day the minor was allegedly assaulted, Saini and his family members had also allegedly assaulted his wife, who had filed multiple police complaints of assault and threat to her and her minor daughter’s life.
Saini and his family members had been booked under charges of rioting, criminal intimidation, and intent to provoke breach of peace, among others.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
Also Read: In ‘one-of-a-kind’ order, SC grants bail to POCSO accused on condition he pays child support
Ok, but why publish the picture and name of the accused in news paper ? Has he been convicted by the court?