Ambedkar Nagar: Police will initiate action against the three accused, arrested in the Ambedkar Nagar molestation incident Saturday, under relevant sections of the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act.
“A charge sheet will be filed within 10 days and they will be convicted within a month. Action will be taken against them under the Gangsters Act,” Ambedkar Nagar Superintendent of Police Ajit Kumar Sinha told ThePrint Tuesday.
The accused, Shahbaz, his brother and Faisal, were arrested a day after Shahbaz and his brother — a minor — tugged at the dupatta (scarf) of a 17-year-old girl who was returning home from school Friday. As a result, the Class 11 student lost control, fell off her bicycle, and was hit by a motorcycle that was right behind her. Faisal, the third accused, was riding that motorcycle. The incident was caught on CCTV camera.
In the FIR, police have invoked sections 302 (murder), 354 (use of criminal force to outrage a woman’s modesty) and 279 (negligent driving) of the IPC, along with sections 7 and 8 of the POCSO Act against the three accused.
“We are treating it as a murder because the girl was misbehaved with. What was being described as an accident, we are prima facie treating it as a murder,” said Sinha. He added that the district police is “very active” when it comes to ensuring safety of women, and that this was the “first (such) incident” reported in Ambedkar Nagar in the “last year-and-a-half”.
On Saturday, Ritesh Pandey, the in-charge of Ambedkar Nagar’s Hanswar police station, was suspended for dereliction of duty after the deceased girl’s father alleged that he had verbally complained to the police about the three accused harassing his daughter but no action was taken against them.
According to Sinha, any other police officer found culpable will be punished.
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‘Accused tried to flee, were shot in the leg’
On Sunday, Sinha said, the accused tried to flee when they were being taken for medical examination. They snatched weapons and opened fire after which officers accompanying them shot Shahbaz and Faisal in the leg, while the minor broke his leg as a result of tripping, Sinha told ThePrint.
A second case has been registered against them, in this regard, under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 394 (causing hurt in committing robbery), 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) and 224 (resistance to lawful apprehension) of the IPC.
थाना हँसवर क्षेत्रांतर्गत एक स्कूली छात्रा की मृत्यु में नामजद तीनों अभियुक्तों को मेडिकल परीक्षण ले जाते समय अभियुक्तों द्वारा रास्ते में मौजूद पुलिस कर्मियों से असलहा छीन कर भागने का प्रयास करने के उपरांत हुई पुलिस मुठभेड़ के संबंध में पुलिस अधीक्षक द्वारा दी गई बाइट#UPPolice pic.twitter.com/4yg8lBHzqQ
— AMBEDKARNAGAR POLICE (@ambedkarnagrpol) September 17, 2023
Asked about how two of the accused were shot in the leg while trying to escape, Singh said the aim is to use minimum force. “Bullets are fired to hit. Our aim is not to kill them. But we have to stop and arrest them,” he said.
While the two brothers are residents of Aribpur, Faisal is a resident of Harsamhar village.
(The name of one of the accused is being withheld on account of him being a minor)
This is an updated version of the report
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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