An Army colonel was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly raping his friend’s wife in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur Cantonment area, PTI reported. The accused raped the woman after getting her husband inebriated at the Officers’ Mess.
“Colonel Neeraj Gahlot was arrested while trying to flee to an unknown place to evade his arrest,” Superintendent of Police (East) Raj Kumar Agarwal told the news agency.
Gahlot was charged on Sunday for allegedly raping the woman, after her husband, a civilian, lodged a first information report against the the Army officer at the Cantonment police station. The woman was produced before a judicial magistrate and her statement was recorded.
According to the complaint, the accused invited his civilian friend to the Officer’s Mess and gave him an intoxicating drink that made him unconscious. Following this, he raped his wife, a woman of Russian descent who has been living in India for 10 years. Gahlot also allegedly assaulted the woman when she put up a resistance.
The Army colonel then took leave and went underground to evade arrest, the police said.
“Police had launched an operation for Colonel Neeraj Gahlot whose mobile location was traced in the vicinity of officers’ mess on Monday evening but he had been evading his arrest,” Cantonment Circle Additional Superintendent of Police Nikhil Pathak, told PTI.
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