Saw women in torn clothes running for their lives: Jat stir eyewitnesses

Looking into the allegations of gang-rapes at Murthal during Haryana’s Jat agitation, a woman police officer from the neighbouring state was here on Monday to record the statements of taxi drivers who claimed to be eyewitnesses to the violence.

Looking into the allegations of gang-rapes at Murthal during Haryana’s Jat agitation, a woman police officer from the neighbouring state was here on Monday to record the statements of taxi drivers who claimed to be eyewitnesses to the violence.

Some of the eyewitnesses said on the condition of anonymity that the agitators had trapped them on the highway to Delhi and pelted their vehicles with stones. (HT File Photo)

One of the taxi drivers told deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Sukhwinder Kaur from Karnal’s women’s cell that protesters had intercepted them in Haryana, vandalised their vehicles, and pelted these with stones. The eyewitnesses to violence claim to have seen injured women in torn clothes running for their lives from the scene. However they claim to have not witnessed any gang rape.

The Haryana DSP had turned up at the Shimlapuri police station, where she recorded the statements of four eyewitnesses and the victims. She declined to share any details with the media, saying it was not the right time, since the matter was under investigation.

Read: Murthal ‘molestation’ witness says attacked during Chandigarh-Delhi trip

Sources said some of the victims had reported the crime to Haryana Police, who traced some by their vehicle registration numbers that security cameras had captured. The Haryana DSP summoned the victims and the eyewitnesses from Ludhiana and the surrounding areas. Some of the eyewitnesses said on the condition of anonymity that the agitators had trapped them on the highway to Delhi and pelted their vehicles with stones.

Shimlapuri station house officer (SHO) inspector Balwinder Singh confirmed that the woman officer had recorded statements at the police station.