The much-talked-about gang rape in Dharamsala was a story cooked up by the complainant, Director-General of Police Sanjay Kumar claimed on Thursday.
At a press conference here, he said the girl who had complained to the college principal about the rape of “her sister” was going back on her version now.
‘Denied assault’
When questioned, she said the so-called victim was her neighbour and not sister, the DGP said. The victim, who was then brought to the police station along with her parents, denied any sexual assault.
The complainant then divulged that she cooked up the story at somebody’s behest. Refusing to reveal the identity of those behind the rumours, the DGP said: “It is under investigation.”
He said the police had constituted a special team under a woman officer to investigate the case after it became a major issue on social media. “But the probe revealed that all stories on the social media were rumours,” he said.
He accepted that the police had registered an FIR against unknown persons on the basis of the complaint and media pressure and student protests.
He said the statement of girls would now be recorded before a judicial magistrate. They are under police protection now.
The Opposition BJP and the ABVP have named the son of a Congress leader, the nephew of a Cabinet Minister in the Virbhadra government and a relative of the college principal as those behind the sexual assault.
Conspiracy: CM
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh termed it a conspiracy to malign his government.
The residents of Dharamsala are not buying the police version. They are demanding that the identity of girls be disclosed. The ABVP, the DYFI and the Aam Aadmi Party, which staged Statewide protests, have demanded a thorough probe as the case involved “high-profile suspects.”
