In yet another blot on khaki, a constable raped a female snatcher after helping her flee from the crime scene in Sunny Enclave, Kharar, on March 7.
The accused, Satbir, 37, a resident of Kharar and posted at the Sunny Enclave police post, has been arrested and suspended.
On March 7, the 27-year-old woman, along with her two aides, a husband-wife duo, had snatched a woman’s gold chain near Green Market, Sunny Enclave, by threatening her with a toy gun. The victim had suffered an injury on the neck while trying to prevent her chain from being snatched.
While the male accused, Kamaljit Singh of Ludhiana, was nabbed by onlookers, his wife, Lakhwinder Kaur, and the other female accused had managed to make good their escape.
According to police, constable Satbir, who was on leave that day, spotted the women fleeing and approached them near KFC, Kharar, offering them help to avoid arrest.
“As captured in a CCTV camera, he took both the women in his Maruti Suzuki Zen. After driving around for some time, he dropped off Lakhwinder, who boarded a bus and reached Sunny Enclave, where she was apprehended by police. Satbir took the other female accused to a hotel in Chandigarh where he raped her before letting her go,” said a senior police official, privy to the probe.
The official added that the woman was also eventually nabbed from Sunny Enclave on March 7 itself.
{{/usCountry}}The official added that the woman was also eventually nabbed from Sunny Enclave on March 7 itself.
{{/usCountry}}“It was after her arrest that she narrated her escape with the constable and how he took her to a hotel where he raped her. Initially, Satbir was only booked for disobeying law being a public servant, but later he was also booked for rape and arrested. After he had managed to apprehend the snatching accused, he should have taken them to the police station or informed his seniors rather than conniving with them,” the official said.
Whether Satbir already knew the women or approached them only on March 7 remains a matter of investigation.
As per police, while the woman is divorced, Satbir is also having a troubled marriage. The cop has previously also undergone disciplinary actions.
He has been booked under Sections 166-A (public servant disobeying law), 212 (harbouring offender), 217 (public servant disobeying direction of law with intent to save person from punishment) and 376 (2) (b) (being a public servant, takes advantage of his official position and commits rape on a woman in his custody) at the Kharar Sadar police station.
He was presented in court on Saturday and sent to two-day police custody.