Almost two-and-a-half months after a rape case was registered against him, Harishankar Awadh Shukla, a teacher at Mahatma Gandhi Mission (MGM) School in Nerul, was nabbed in Delhi on Wednesday night. The Crime Branch Unit-I, which is investigating the case, had sent four teams to four different places to trace Shukla who was nabbed in a joint operation with Nerul police from his friend’s residence at GTB Enclave in East Delhi.
Police said Shukla’s friend was not aware of the case against him. “He had been continuously visiting his friends without them knowing that he was running from thr police. He used to tell them he was on official work. He had come for a day to GTB Enclave, where he was arrested,” said a Crime Branch officer. Shukla also had been continuously changing his handsets and location to make it tough for the police to nab him.
Shukla, accused of raping a 13-year-old student of the school, was presented before the Delhi court for transit remand. The Navi Mumbai police team have left Delhi by train, with Shukla, and are expected to reach here on Friday. “We will present Shukla before the magistrate court here and seek police custody,” said Senior Police Inspector Ashok Rajput of Crime Branch Unit-I.
The Navi Mumbai police has appealed to the parents of students in the school to report any complaints against Shukla or principal Savita Gulati. “We have appealed to the parents but no one has come forward. The case against them could be made stronger,” Assistant Commissioner of Police (Turbhe Division) Dhanraj Dayma said.
A case against Shukla was registered on September 29 after the parents of the victim found that their daughter was pregnant. According to the complaint, the accused had allegedly raped the victim in April and August when the class was out for physical training and the girl was made to stay back in class. After the medical termination of the pregnancy, the foetus has been preserved in Kalina Forensic lab for DNA-matching. A non-cognisable case was registered against the principal on Tuesday after a protest by parents outside the school.
The Thane Special Court on Wednesday ordered the Nerul police to find out if the principal was aware of the incident and yet failed to inform the police.
Kharghar day care case
Meanwhile, the Anticipatory bail of Priyanka Nikam, owner of Purva Preschool and Nursery in Kharghar, was rejected by the High Court on Thursday. A case of attempt to murder was registered against Nikam after a 10-month-old child was brutally assaulted last month by Afsana Shaikh, a helper at the preschool.
While Shaikh is in judicial custody, Nikam is absconding. Her anticipatory bail was rejected at Alibaug sessions court on December 7.
“Our staff was present at the court to arrest her in case her anticipatory bail plea got rejected, but she did not appear in court and is still absconding,” said Senior Police Inspector Dilip Kale, Kharghar police station.
The writer is a freelance journalist
