LUCKNOW: A hunt is on for the Indian Army colonel who is accused of raping a Russian woman at his official residence in the Cantonment area of Kanpur.
According to Kanpur East SP Raj Kumar Agarwal, the cops are on the lookout for Colonel Neeraj Gehlot posted at the Central Ordnance Depot (COD) in Kanpur. He is believed to be on the run following the incident.
The Colonel allegedly raped his friend’s Russian wife at his official bungalow in the Cantt area.
The sources said that though the incident happened on December 10, it came to light on Saturday (December 12) when an FIR was lodged against the Colonel under Section 376 (rape) and other relevant section of IPC following a complaint by the woman’s husband at the Cantt police station on Saturday.
As per the police sources, the victim’s husband, who belongs to Lucknow, claimed that Col Neeraj Gehlot had invited him and his wife for dinner at his place last Thursday evening.
After shopping during the day, the couple allegedly reached the colonel’s residence in the evening for the dinner. The victim’s husband, in the FIR, claimed that as they went to the Colonel’s official bungalow in COD, the host offered him a drink laced with sedatives. Soon after consuming it, he lost consciousness. The Colonel then dragged his Russian wife to another room and tried to force himself on her.
The victim resisted the move, pushed the colonel away, and shouted, but he brutally assaulted her. The woman too lost her consciousness. “We have sent the woman for a medical examination and the report is awaited,” said SP East Raj Kumar Agarwal.
The woman narrated her ordeal to her husband when he regained consciousness. The victim’s husband accompanied her to the Cantt police station on December 12 to file a complaint. He told police that his wife was a Russian and had been living in India for the last 10 years.
SP Raj Kumar Agarwal said three teams have been set up to nab the culprit and his phone number has been put on electronic surveillance. The sources claimed that while the location of the number was being found in Kanpur, the colonel has not been arrested yet.
Meanwhile, the victim was produced before a judicial magistrate and her statement was recorded under Section 161 of CrPC.