Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday suspended Superintendent of Police (SP), Hathras, Vikrant Veer and four other local policemen for alleged dereliction of duty in the events that led to the death of a 19-year-old woman and then her hasty cremation in the dead of the night in the absence of her family members.
Others who have been suspended include Circle Officer Ram Shabd, Inspector Dinesh Kumar Verma, Sub-Inspector Jagveer Singh and head constable Mahesh Pal.
Shamli SP Vineet Jaiswal will take charge of Hathras district.
According to Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Avanish Awasthi, all these officers will have to undergo a narco test, along with family members of the deceased, to ascertain the truth behind the incident since both have been giving contradictory statements regarding the incident.
Sources said that the action had been taken based on the preliminary report given by the SIT that is probing the case.
The 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly gang-raped in Hathras by several men. She died at Delhi’s Safdarjung hospital on Tuesday morning and her body was cremated by police officers, allegedly her family’s consent.
(With inputs from IANS report)