After 780 days, two rape accused held

Rajkot: Nearly 780 days after they were booked under the Pocso Act for allegedly raping a minor girl, two accused were arrested by Rajkot rural police following a statewide manhunt triggered by the brutal murder of the rape victim’s uncle earlier last week.

Mahendrasinh Jadeja (35) and Yashpalsinh Jadeja (22) were apprehended near the Gujarat-Rajasthan border in Banaskantha district in the early hours of Sunday, said Rajkot rural superintendent of police Vijaysinh Gurjar.

The arrest ended a two-year delay that had drawn sharp scrutiny over alleged police inaction in the original rape case.

The duo had been named in a rape complaint lodged at Paddhari police station on April 4, 2024, under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 376(2)(N) and provisions of the Pocso Act. While a third accused, Ajaysinh Jadeja, was arrested soon after the FIR, Mahendrasinh and Yashpalsinh allegedly remained absconding for over two years, police said.

The case exploded back into public focus on May 20, when the minor rape victim’s 43-year-old uncle was allegedly chased and murdered by the accused duo in Khakhadabela village of Paddhari taluka.

Police said the victim’s uncle had arrived in his SUV with a woman around 8.30 pm when the accused duo allegedly rammed their car into his vehicle before launching a deadly knife attack. Investigators said the victim was stabbed nine times in the chest and neck before collapsing inside the vehicle. The woman accompanying him witnessed the entire attack.

The murder sparked outrage across Gujarat and raised serious questions about how two accused in a POCSO case managed to evade arrest for 780 days and later allegedly murdered the victim’s uncle.

Following the killing, Rajkot Range Inspector General of Police (IGP) Nirlipt Rai suspended four policemen connected with the handling of the case over the last two years. The suspended officers include inspector and investigating officer of the Pocso case H N Rathod, then station house officer police inspector S N Parmar, sub-inspector J J Vala, and assistant sub-inspector Bhagirathsinh Jadeja.

Rajkot rural SP Vijaysinh Gurjar formed a special squad of more than 100 personnel to track the fugitives.

Police said preliminary investigations revealed that the accused had repeatedly pressured the rape victim’s family to settle the case. A separate complaint was also filed against Mahendrasinh’s father, Ranjitsinh Jadeja, for allegedly threatening the complainant and attempting to run him over with a tractor.

Investigators have now launched a reinvestigation into the handling of the original rape case of minor to determine whether negligence allowed the accused to remain free for so long, Gurjar said.

Box1: How police tracked the accused

After the murder on May 20, Rajkot rural police launched an intensive multi-district operation headed by police inspector Arvindsinh Jadeja of Bhayavadar police station. Police placed the mobile phones of the accused’s relatives and suspected associates under surveillance and reconstructed the escape route allegedly taken by the accused after the murder. Investigators tracked the movement of the car allegedly used in the attack from Khakhadabela village towards northern Gujarat. Cyber teams, technical surveillance units and local informants were simultaneously deployed across Rajasthan and border districts. Based on specific intelligence inputs, police teams intercepted the accused around 3 am and nabbed them. The car used in the crime was seized, and investigators found that its number plate had allegedly been changed. Police said the vehicle was originally registered in the name of a man from Kutch, and forgery charges are likely to be added to the murder case. Police said three knives used in the murder case were recovered from the crime scene. The murder weapon, along with the seized vehicles and mobile phones, has been sent for forensic examination.

Box2: Where the accused hid while on the run

Police investigations revealed that Mahendrasinh and Yashpalsinh spent the last two years moving across different parts of Rajasthan to avoid arrest in the rape and POCSO case. According to investigators, the duo avoided regular phone contact with relatives and acquaintances to escape surveillance. Mahendrasinh allegedly worked as a cook at a hotel in Manali, while Yashpalsinh assisted him. Police said Mahendrasinh used random hotel telephones to contact old school and college friends and request money transfers online. The cash was later withdrawn from hotel counters, petrol pumps and money transfer outlets to avoid creating a direct banking trail. Investigators suspect the accused frequently changed locations and identities while remaining underground.