Ahmedabad: Rape Accused Shot in Leg While Trying to Flee Police Custody
A security guard arrested for allegedly raping a woman in Ahmedabad was shot in the leg while trying to escape from police custody during a recovery operation, officials said on Monday. A police constable also suffered a bullet injury in the incident, which occurred late Sunday night.
The accused, identified as Dharam Singh, was taken to the Hebatpur area for recovery of the mobile phone allegedly stolen from the victim. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 7) Shivam Verma said that during the operation, Singh attempted to snatch the service pistol of an inspector, leading to a scuffle.
“During the scuffle, a round was fired, and the police constable was injured. Subsequently, when police tried to overpower the accused, another round was fired, hitting him in the leg,” Mr. Verma told reporters.
Both the accused and the constable, identified as Virendra Singh, were shifted to the Civil Hospital in Sola for treatment. Hospital officials reported that both were in stable condition.
According to police, Singh was arrested on Sunday morning, within hours of the rape incident. His medical examination and DNA sampling were completed before the recovery operation began. The police were conducting a panchnama in the Hebatpur area when the escape attempt occurred.
“In an attempt to escape from the police, he tried to snatch the service pistol of an inspector. During the scuffle, one bullet fired from that pistol injured our constable,” Mr. Verma said.
The Bodakdev police were in the process of registering a case against the accused for attempt to commit culpable homicide, Mr. Verma added.
The security guard had been arrested for allegedly raping a woman on the terrace of a residential building in the Anandnagar police station area. The woman had gone to the terrace for a walk on Saturday night when the accused allegedly strangled her and sexually assaulted her before locking her there and fleeing, according to police.
The accused, a native of Hardoi district in Uttar Pradesh, had started working as a security guard at the residential society just four days before the incident. He switched off his mobile phone and fled after the incident.
Multiple teams comprising personnel from the local police and the Crime Branch were formed to trace him. Investigators used CCTV footage of the area to track the accused, and he was arrested around 8 a.m. on Sunday near Hebatpur, police said.
