23 days after FIR for dalit minor’s rape, sarpanch of Ropar village arrested

Patiala: Twenty-three days after he was booked for allegedly raping a minor dalit girl on Feb 16, the sarpanch of a village in Ropar district was finally arrested on Wednesday. He is the sixth arrest in the case.

However, to nab accused Harvinder Singh, police had to launch a manhunt in which they ended up arresting three people who had given shelter to the accused and helped him evade police.

One of the people who helped Harvinder was, in fact, arrested at the Mumbai airport, when he was trying to flee abroad. Police had already issued a lookout circular (LOC) against him.

Ropar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Gulneet Singh Khurana said Harvinder had been booked for rape under sections of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on Feb 16. While police had arrested co-accused Mandeep on the day of the crime, Harvinder had been on the run ever since. Police have also arrested Harvinder’s wife, Manpreet Kaur, in connection with the case. She is already in judicial custody.

The SSP said during the search for Harvinder, police had also arrested Nachhattar Singh, the manager of a hotel owned by Harvinder. The SSP said Nachhattar had given a SIM card and mobile phone to Harvinder when he was on the run. “Amandeep Singh alias Amna Sarpanch of Ranke village in Mullapur Dakha of Ludhiana district was also arrested for helping Harvinder. During his interrogation, Amandeep revealed that their friend Kulwant Singh, a resident of Sohia village, also gave shelter to Harvinder in his relative’s house,” said the SSP.

The SSP added they arrested Kulwant at the Mumbai airport on March 6.

He said they had declared a Rs 1-lakh reward for information leading to the arrest of Harvinder, and information about him had been disseminated through electronic, print, and social media.

SSP added they were yet to arrest on emor eaccused in the case, Davinder Singh, who owns a marriage banquet. The SSP did not reveal Davinder’s role in the crime.

The SSP said Harvinder will now be produced in court, and police will seek his remand.

Courtesy : MSN

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