Uttar Pradesh: Gangrape on Yamuna expressway

Lucknow: In yet another incident that challenges the Yogi Adityanath government’s efforts to control the law and order situation in UP, armed miscreants killed one person, looted a family and raped four women on the Jewar-Bulandshahr highway in the early hours of Thursday.

The incident took place around 1.30 am near Sabauta village when eight members, including four women, of a family were on their way to Bulandshahr to visit an ailing relative. The victims said their car stopped on the highway when it hit a metal object.

Driver tried to resist, shot dead
As soon as the men got down to check the tyres, the six miscreants waylaid them. They dragged the women out of the car and raped them — a fact that the victims later told reporters. They also beat up the men and looted them.

On resisting, the attackers shot Shakeel Qureshi, the driver, who died on the spot. Later, one of the victims identified the miscreants and said that they were known to the family and had probably been following them on the highway.

Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) has been asked to investigate the case, but no arrests have yet been made.

“We are trying to screen CCTV footage along the route and will nab the criminals soon. We are recording the statements of the victims,” said a senior police official.

The police downplayed the incident and a senior police official said that the women had been sent for medical examination and rape was yet to be confirmed.

Gautam Buddha Nagar SSP Love Kumar said teams comprising crime branch, STF and local polices have been formed.

The incident is a frightening replay of the horrific gangrape of a woman and her 13-year-old daughter in July last year when they were travelling in a car from Noida to Shahjahanpur. The incident took place on the National Highway passing through Bulandshahr.