The Uttar Pradesh Police has set up a special investigation team to look into the murder of a two-and-a-half-year-old girl in Aligarh, ANI reported on Friday. Two men have been arrested for the crime, while five police officials have been suspended.
Aligarh Senior Superintendent of Police Akash Kulhary formed the six-member special investigation team, Firstpost reported. He said a manhunt had been launched to trace the rest of the accused.
“A forensic science team, the Special Operations Group and a team of experts have been included in the SIT to conduct the investigation on a fast-track basis,” Additional Director General (Law and Order) Anand Kumar told ANI. “The POCSO Act [Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act] will also be there in the case.”
Kulhary had earlier denied claims circulating on social media and said that the postmortem report did not show any sign of sexual assault or any trace of acid. “As per the postmortem report she was strangled to death,” he said.
“The state police is handling this case sensitively,” Kumar told ANI. “On May 30, the child went missing. On May 31, the family members informed the police and alleged negligence on the part of the police. The SHO of Tappal area [where the incident took place] has been suspended.”
Meanwhile, police have sent forensic samples to a laboratory in Agra for further examination, The Indian Express reported.
According to police, the girl was kidnapped on May 31 and a first information report was filed at the Tappal police station in Aligarh district the same day. The child’s body was found two days later in a garbage dump. Two people, Zahid and Aslam, residents of Tappal town, have been arrested for allegedly killing the girl over a money dispute with her father. Police have decided to book them under the National Security Act.
Meanwhile, the girl’s father demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the matter. “The arrest of only two people is not sufficient, and the police is not working seriously in this case,” he told Firstpost. “My daughter would have been alive and with the family if they [police] had acted on time. We demand the arrest of all the accused and the death penalty for them, otherwise, I will end my life in front of the police station.”
Police have said the murder had no communal angle. Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi on Friday joined the chorus seeking action against the culprits.
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights Chairperson Priyank Kanoongo said he had spoken to Kulhari and asked him to take necessary action. The commission asked him for a fact-finding inquiry report, PTI reported.
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