Beat constable who acted swiftly helped arrest gang rape accused
NEW DELHI: Had it not been for an alert beat officer, head constable Arvind, officers probing the 2014 gangrape of a Danish woman could still be struggling to crack the case.
Arvind was on patrolling duty when he was informed about the rape. Though not properly briefed about the suspects, he alerted his informers and held a notorious local criminal, Mahendra alias Ganja.
Investigators suffered a setback when the victim refused medical examination and insisted on flying back home. They escorted her to the airport and helped her board the flight.
By the time senior police officers returned from the airport, Arvind caught Ganja. “Ganja confessed to the crime and disclosed the names of other accused,” said an officer.
When Ganja was being interrogated, the sole eyewitness, Siddhi Singh, a 60-year-old gardener of the park where the woman was raped, spoke up.
The gardener, who lived in a room near the park, said around 4pm he was going to a market when he saw the nine people drinking on State Entry Road near New Delhi Railway Station.
“Around 8pm, Singh heard the screams of a woman. He went towards the park and saw the accused raping the woman… Singh shared names of all the accused,” another officer said.