'Cops ignoring murder accused's accomplices'

NAGPUR: The residents of Ganga Jamuna have expressed displeasure over the cops going slow in Shaila (name changed) murder case. They claimed that the cops were giving a long rope to the accomplices of arrested main accused despite their identity being made known to Lakadganj police.
Following the first arrest made earlier, the cops rounded up another culprit on Tuesday evening after Ganga Jamuna resident and social workers demanded concrete action.The residents, talking to TOI, said that more culprits involved in the case are not being arrested. They have also raised the issue that the culprits may try to intimidate Ramabai Dhanawat, Shaila's aunt, who was injured in the attack when she tried to save the girl.
The 22-year-old girl was stabbed in presence of several onlookers by a group of assailants at Bhaskar galli locality in city's notorious red-light area recently. One of the youths involved in the attack was learnt to be politically connected with his base in Mominpura locality. Local residents had claimed that four youths, including the main culprit Sachin Yadav, were involved in the crime.
The Lakadganj cops had earlier arrested Yadav allegedly stabbing Shaila who refused to marry him. Yadav's arrest was made after city police chief Ankush Dhanvijay had issued an instruction to Lakadganj cops to round up the culprits. Now, the cops have rounded up Wasim Shaikh whose name had cropped up for being part of the attack.
The cops had initially registered an offence under Section 324 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) for causing grievous hurt. Only on following day did the cops turn it into attempted murder. The girl succumbed to her injuries on second day. Shaila had a three-month-old boy and three siblings to look after.
Just as Dhanvijay is assuring citizens he has got situation under control, Lakdaganj police seem to be slipping into earlier mode.
The local youths campaigning for justice for the slain girl alleged that the police were not showing any interest to round up the accomplices who had come with Yadav to kill the girl. "Police are ignoring the inputs from people who had witnessed the murder," said Irfan Shaikh, a local youth. "It is surprising why police are not arresting rest of the youths whose names have cropped up as they can tamper with the evidence and threaten the witnesses," he said.
The residents claimed that the names had been conveyed to the police but police are trying to manipulate the facts. "We are not sure whether cops are conducting the investigation fairly or are biased," said another youth.