Survivors claim cops arrived late

Neighbour says he called PCR immediately

May 26, 2017 01:33 am | Updated 08:11 am IST - Greater Noida

Survivors of the Jewar incident have accused the Gautam Budh Nagar police of a delayed response.

The neighbour, who was talking to Salim [name changed] on the phone when the incident happened, informed the police after being alarmed at the way the conversation was disconnected.

“It was around 1.37 a.m. An hour had passed by the time the police reached the spot and located them. The women had been gangraped and Salim had been killed,” said the neighbour.

Inspector General of Police (Meerut Range) Ram Kumar, however, avoided questions about the alleged delay in response. When asked what time the PCR call was received, Mr. Kumar said that these points were being looked into as part of the investigation.

Allegations about the delay were seconded by one of the survivors The Hindu spoke to. His statement, based on which the FIR was filed, however, says the “suspects ran into the jungles upon seeing the police party arrive, even as they fired more gunshots into the air.”

Neighbour joined search

Another relative said that a three-man police party reached the spot but could not find anyone. This, he said, was because the location provided to them was the main road. The incident happened in a field along the road.

The police team then called the PCR, even as the neighbour asked them to wait and offered to join the search himself. “I took one of Salim’s nephews and another relative to look for the victims. We went into the fields, after which the police used their searchlights, which highlighted the attackers who fled. The damage had been done by then,” he said.

Cops denied gang-rape?

On Thursday morning the police had denied that the women were gangraped. Later, when Mr. Kumar was asked a question in this regard, he said, “the thing must have come up in due course.”

This, despite the victims claiming that they had mentioned gang-rape from the time they were taken to hospital.

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