Patna: The Patna police suspended two officers with immediate effect following a review of the Chitragupt Nagar police station case related to the alleged rape and murder of an 18-year-old medical aspirant at a girls’ hostel in the state capital. The action came after a Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report indicated that the victim had been sexually assaulted.According to a statement issued by the office of the SSP, Patna, Chitragupt Nagar station house officer Roshni Kumari and additional station house officer of Kadamkuan police station, sub-inspector Hemant Jha, have been placed under suspension. The two officers have been charged with failing to gather intelligence and not taking timely action in the matter.The suspensions were ordered in the early hours of Sunday after senior officers reviewed the handling of the case and acknowledged negligence at the lower levels. There had been prior allegations that the Chitragupt Nagar SHO was aware of the incident from the very beginning but failed to act appropriately, resulting in a delay in the investigation.Sources said the station incharge did not visit the place of occurrence — the girls’ hostel — for three days after the incident came to light. The victim, who was preparing for a medical entrance examination, was found unconscious in her room on Jan 6 and later died during treatment at a private hospital on Jan 11. Her father lodged a complaint on Jan 9, alleging that his daughter had been sexually assaulted and murdered.As per the information available with the police, SHO Roshni Kumari received details about the incident from Kadamkuan police station while she was attending a meeting at Gandhi Maidan. After receiving the information, she went to the hospital and spoke to the doctors attending the victim. However, she did not visit the hostel where the girl was found unconscious. Instead, she sent her driver to locate the hostel.The driver later told reporters that he reached the hostel on Jan 9 after locating the area with the help of locals. He claimed that hostel staff initially refused to allow him to enter the premises, forcing him to wait outside for a long time. “I went inside and first removed the DVR and brought it to the police station,” he said, adding that the gates were opened only after he called the police.
