Yogi Adityanath cracks down: DCP, ADCP, ACP transferred and entire chowki staff suspended for 'letting off' molesters

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered the transfer of three senior police officers and the suspension of the entire chowki staff, including a police inspector, following a mishandling of charges in a case involving a sexual crime in Lucknow, reported The Times of India.

The decision came a day after the Lucknow Police initially filed less severe charges in an incident where a woman was harassed by a mob in the Gomtinagar area.

On Wednesday, a mob splashed rainwater on a woman riding a pillion, pushed her off a bike, and groped her. The incident occurred in the upscale Gomtinagar area and was caught on video, which went viral.


Initially, the Gomtinagar police station registered an FIR under sections 272 (a malignant act to spread infection) and 285 (obstruction of public way) but did not include sections related to sexual crimes. The FIR was subsequently amended on Thursday to include sections 191 (2), 3 (5), 272, 285, and 74, which pertain to outraging a woman's modesty, following strict instructions from the CM.

"Anyone who jeopardizes women's safety will face severe consequences. We have taken this incident very seriously. As a result, we have removed the DCP, ADCP, and ACP from their positions. Additionally, we have suspended the police station inspector and entire chowki," stated Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The senior officers removed from their positions were Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) East Prabal Pratap Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) East Amit Kumawat, and Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Gomtinagar Anshu Jain. Those suspended include the inspector of the Gomtinagar police station, Deepak Kumar Pandey, and four cops posted at Samtamoolak chowki: in-charge Rishi Vivek, inspector Kapil Kumar, and constables Dharamveer and Virendra Kumar. The Samtamoolak chowki is located just one kilometer from the crime scene.

Police have arrested 16 suspects so far, with more raids being conducted to capture remaining individuals. Lucknow Police Commissioner Amarendra Kumar Sengar confirmed that Pawan Yadav and Sunil Kumar were apprehended on Wednesday night, while Mohammad Arbaaz and Viraj Sahu were nabbed on Thursday. Other suspects arrested include Arjun Agrahari, Ratan Gupta, Aman Gupta, Anil Kumar, Priyanshu Sharma, Ashish Singh, Vikas Bhandari, Manish Kumar Saroj, Abhishek Tiwari, Krishnakant Gupta, Jai Kishan, and Abhishek Sahu.

The incident happened during a two-hour downpour that led to waterlogging at an underpass near the Taj hotel in Gomtinagar. A group of men gathered at the spot and harassed commuters. Videos posted on social media showed these men targeting bikers and women, as well as kicking car windows and headlights. It was only after a social media uproar that police arrived and dispersed the mob.

With inputs from ToI