LUCKNOW: Baba Satyanarain Das, the main accused of the Badaun gangrape and murder case, was arrested by the police during a raid on the house of one of his disciples at a village where he was hiding, on Thursday night.
The other two men, said to be his disciples, were arrested on Tuesday.
A 50-year-old woman was allegedly gang-raped and murdered by the priest and his two accomplices -- Ved Ram and Yashpal -- in Badaun district on Sunday. The victim had left home for the temple at around 6 pm on that day. When she did not return for two-three hours, her family went to the police station but were turned back. Later that night, at around 11:30 pm, three men dumped the half-naked body, profusely bleeding and badly bruised outside her home and fled.
According to the victim’s family, the three men were temple priest Baba Satyanarain Das and two of his accomplices Ved Ram and driver Yashpal. The deceased, a mother of five, was the sole earning member of her family.
The main accused, who had been carrying a cash reward of Rs 50,000 on his arrest, had fled the temple premises where the crime was committed. The district police had set up four teams to nab Satyanarain and the raids were conducted at his different possible hideouts in Uttarakhand, Bareilly, Chandausi and Kasganj in western UP. However, he was found hiding in the village adjacent to the temple.
"On Thursday midnight, that 'mahant' (priest) Satyanarain was hiding in the house of his follower in a village under Ughaiti police station from where he was picked up," said District Magistrate Kumar Prashant.
He was immediately arrested and interrogated by a police team, added the DM. Based on complaints from the family members and the post-mortem report, a case has been registered under sections 376D (gang-rape) and 302 (punishment for murder) of the IPC.
The FIR was registered on Tuesday after an autopsy confirmed rape.
Meanwhile, a case was lodged against the suspended Ughaiti police station SHO Ravindra Pratap Singh and beat Inspector Amarjeet on Thursday night for their supine attitude and laxity in handling the case. Both the cops are accused of failing to reach the crime spot despite having the information of the gangrape and murder.
Following the directives of the SSP Sankalp Sharma, both the cops were booked under Section 166A of IPC (police responsible for delays in registering an FIR after a victim makes a complaint). The punishment under the section ranges from six months’ to two years’ imprisonment.
They had informed senior officials about the incident 17 hours after the incident, the SSP said.
According to ADG zone, Avinash Chandra, a four-member team was set up to probe into the incident. The ADG confirmed that a case was lodged against the erring cops.
However, if the local sources are to be believed, Satyanarain used to perform exorcism and he used to treat mental ailments as well. The victim used to frequent the temple and often the priest would also visit her house.
Sources said that the victim’s husband has been mentally retarded. The children of the victim also confirmed this.