Delhi teen gang rape: Bus had racked up 8 challans in UP before August 4 horror | Delhi News
NEW DELHI: The sleeper bus in which a 16-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped in Delhi had accumulated eight challans in Uttar Pradesh in July, including an Rs 23,000 fine for allegedly operating without a permit, even as police found that the travel company had not verified the driver and conductor, according to the investigation reported by news agency PTI.Five of the eight challans were issued in Mathura, mostly for speeding, while the total value of the fines stood at Rs 54,000, police said. The challan for allegedly operating without a permit was issued in Hamirpur on July 23.The bus was purchased in April and registered in Firozabad on April 28, according to the investigation.Delhi Police are now reconstructing the bus’s route on the night of August 4 using CCTV footage from several locations, including Kashmere Gate, Timarpur parking and Pari Chowk in Greater Noida, along with the mobile phone location data of one of the accused.One CCTV camera captured the bus getting onto the Hanuman Mandir flyover, which investigators believe could help establish its route. The footage is being analysed alongside the accused’s phone location to identify the bus’s movements and possible stops during the journey, a senior police officer said.The investigation has also found that no verification of the accused was carried out by the bus company, according to police sources.The victim’s clothes, which allegedly bear blood and semen stains, have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory and will be matched with DNA samples of the two accused, bus driver Kuldeep (39) and conductor Sandeep (26), both residents of Kanpur.The victim’s clothes, the seat cover and CCTV footage are expected to form important pieces of evidence in the case, police said.Bus was not on regular passenger serviceAs per the PTI report, the 16-year-old girl, who had left her home in Mainpuri after being scolded by her mother, boarded the bus at Pari Chowk in Greater Noida on a rainy night, believing the conductor’s assurance that it would take her to Noida Sector 63, where her cousin lived.The bus was not operating on regular passenger service that night. It had been taken to a workshop in Surajpur, Greater Noida, for repairs after developing a technical fault and was subsequently being taken towards Kashmere Gate for painting, according to the travel company that operated it.Police allege that the two accused picked up the girl around 9 pm and proceeded towards Kashmere Gate. During the journey, they allegedly raped her inside the moving bus and threatened to kill her when she resisted.The girl was abandoned near Kashmere Gate and later reached the police station in an auto-rickshaw, where she reported the incident. Delhi Police registered an FIR and got her medically examined, which confirmed rape, officials said.With the help of CCTV footage, police traced the bus within a few hours and arrested Kuldeep and Sandeep from a parking lot in Timarpur. The bus was seized and the accused underwent potency tests, police said.During forensic examination, strands of the girl’s hair were found inside the bus. Investigators are now examining the seat cover and other material recovered from the vehicle for further forensic evidence.Curtains, faulty CCTV under scannerThe bus had company-fitted curtains around its sleeper berths, which allegedly allowed the accused to conceal their activities from people outside. The travel company had earlier said the bus’s CCTV cameras were not operational as it was undergoing renovation.Police are also examining how the bus travelled for several kilometres from Greater Noida towards Delhi without being stopped and are using CCTV footage and technical evidence to reconstruct the sequence of events.According to PTI, the vehicle’s record of challans and the absence of verification of the accused have emerged as additional points of scrutiny as investigators examine the circumstances surrounding the incident.The Delhi Commission for Women has taken suo motu cognisance of the incident and directed the Delhi Police Commissioner to initiate an expeditious investigation and submit an action-taken report within seven days.The incident has drawn comparisons with what came to be known as the Nirbhaya case, in which a young woman was gang-raped inside an off-duty private bus in Delhi in 2012, triggering nationwide protests and major changes in India’s laws on sexual offences.(With agency inputs)
