In a major decision, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday suspended the Superintendent of Police, Hathras, Vikrant Veer, and four other local policemen for alleged dereliction of duty in the events that led to the death of a 19-year-old woman and then her hasty cremation in the dead of the night in absence of her family members.
Others who have been suspended include Circle officer Ram Shabd, Inspector Dinesh Kumar Verma, Sub-Inspector Jagveer Singh and head constable Mahesh Pal.
According to Additional Chief Secretary, Home Avanish Awasthi, all these officers will have to undergo a narco test, along with family members of the deceased, to ascertain the truth behind the incident since both have been giving contradictory statements regarding the incident.
Sources said that the action had been taken on the basis of a preliminary report given by the SIT that is probing the case.
Earlier in the day, Adityanath had said his government is committed to women’s safety and those who even think of harming their self-respect will face total destruction.
The warning came days after the 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly gang-raped in Hathras by four men. She died at Delhi’s Safdarjung hospital on Tuesday morning.
While her family maintained that the victim had been subjected to gang rape, top police officials in Lucknow claimed that rape had not been proved in the autopsy report. — IANS
