After nearly a week-long chase, the Uttar Pradesh Police arrested the main accused in the Bulandshahr gang-rape case and the kingpin of the notorious Bawaria gang on Monday evening.
Salim Bawaria, who was on the run since the horrific gang-rape of a Noida-based woman and her teenage daughter, was arrested by the Special Task Force of the Uttar PradeshPolice.
Salim, whose arrest was earlier confirmed by the UPDGP Javeed Ahmed, was nabbed along with two other accused in the case from Meerut.
“Remaining 3 accused in Bulandshr case arrested after week long chase across east India,” Mr. Ahmad tweeted late on Monday night.
The police had already arrested three persons – Raees, Shavez and Jabar Singh.
Police sources said that Saleem’s gang travelled by buses and trains to evade police patrols and check points instead of using light vehicles to quickly cover large distances, as most highway robbers do.
The gang is also known to assault women during these robberies after separating men and women found travelling together.
“As a modus operandi, they keep iron rods, rinch cutters and other similar material to stop moving vehicles and hold them captive on gun point before performing robberies and other crime,” a police source said.
Apart from the above, police had said last week that three culprits had been nabbed by them.
On July 29, a group of criminals had waylaid a car, carrying six members of a Noida-based family on their way to Shahjahanpur in western Uttar Pradesh and had sexually assaulted a minor girl and her mother after dragging them out of the vehicle.
The incident had led to widespread criticism of the law- and-order situation in UP.
Apparently rattled by the outcry, senior minister in the Samajwadi Party government Azam Khan had remarked that he suspected a ‘political conspiracy’ behind the incident, evoking widespread condemnation.
Meanwhile, earlier today, the Allahabad High Court had sought to know from the UP government why the investigation in the case be not handed over to the CBI.
