Delhi Secretariat Joint Secretary AV Premnath, accused of sexually assaulting a teenager in Danda Kanda of Hawalbagh block, has been arrested by the police from Haldwani. He was trying to escape via bus from Haldwani.
AV Premnath has been accused of raping a minor girl. On Monday, she narrated the incident to ADM Chandra Singh Martolia. She said that AV Premnath had been pressurizing her mother to move with him to his wife's NGO Pleasant Valley Foundation in Danda Kanda since the time of the lockdown. Later the accused sent the mother to jail in a false case and started sexually harassing her (the girl). The girl even complained to the regional patwari but he did not listen.
The ADM took the matter seriously and directed the officers to take action. After this, the revenue police came into action and registered a case against AV Premnath under sections 354, 7/8 POCSO, IT Act, 66D and other sections of the IPC. On Tuesday, some student leaders of Ranikhet created a ruckus at Danda Kanda against such immoral activity in the area. Meanwhile, seeing the sensitivity of the matter, the case was transferred to Ranikhet Kotwali.
Seeing the tightening of the screws, the accused fled from here. The police laid a trap and arrested him from Haldwani when he was trying to escape from the bus. The statements of the victim and the mother of the victim have been taken. The crime is serious. Police have increased sections 376, 511 and 506 etc. The accused was produced in the court late on Wednesday evening.
Uttarakhand has been lately been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. First the recruitment scam, then the heinous murder of Ankita Bhandari by the son of a BJP leader and now this. Pushkar Dhami led BJP government has to make sure that they are committed to providing justice to the victims and punishing the accused severely.