Rape survivor girl, mother record statement, raids to find Gayatri Prajapati on

LUCKNOW: Armed with the statement of the 16-year-old who was allegedly sexually assaulted and her mother who was

gang-raped

repeatedly, police are now out to arrest UP minister Gayatri Prajapati who is named prime accused in the case. Police said raids were underway to arrest him.

Statements of the minor girl were recorded by the investigating officer (IO) at AIIMS (Delhi) on Thursday morning in the presence of witnesses and the proceedings were videographed as per the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. As per the complainant’s lawyer Mehmood Pracha, the girl has already got her statements recorded before a Tees Hazari court and UP police were in the process of securing a copy of it. He has also accused police of forcing the minor to get her statement recorded, a charge refuted by the IO deputy superintendent of police Amita Singh. “All due procedures were followed,” she told TOI after recording the teenaged girl’s statements.

Police sources said the girl narrated the sequence of events to the police, making it compulsory for investigators to proceed with the arrest of the minister and produce him before the court as per the provisions of the POCSO Act. Left with no scope to allow a long leash to Gayatri, who is underground, police have stepped up efforts to track him down.

At least six police teams have been pressed into service to hunt for Prajapati at his suspected hideouts at Amethi, Pratapgarh and NCR, said Lucknow senior superintendent of police Manzil Saini. “We are also using electronic surveillance and keeping close watch on his aides,” she said, adding that investigators were hopeful of an early breakthrough.

The Supreme Court had, on February 17, ordered a thorough probe into the allegations of the complainant and the police registered an FIR in the case the next day, no action was initiated to ensure that he remained on the radar of the police. A sitting Samajwadi Party MLA from Amethi who is in the fray to retain his seat, Gayatri also voted on February 23.

Enjoying Y category security cover by virtue of being a minister in the state cabinet, Gayatri, who was accompanied by a personal security officer (PSO) apart from about six armed cops, however, reportedly gave police a slip and went untraceable since Monday.