Day after girl's body found in car outside UP ashram, local police outpost in-charge shunted

GONDA: The Gonda district police shunted an outpost in-charge for dereliction of duty on Saturday, a day after the body of a minor girl was found in a car outside an ashram.

The body of the 13-year-old girl, a resident of Bimaur village, was found in the vehicle parked outside an ashram built by supporters of self-styled godman Asaram Bapu.

A post-mortem examination of the body has ruled out rape.

The police have lodged an FIR but are yet to make any arrest.

"The in-charge of the Misraulia police outpost, Awadh Bihari Chaubey, has been sent to the police lines over dereliction of duty. The investigation of the case has been handed over to another officer," Superintendent of Police, Gonda, Santosh Kumar Mishra told PTI.

On the post-mortem examination, the SP said, "The doctor's panel has ruled out rape.The post-mortem report claimed that the girl was killed at least 48 hours before the examination. The viscera of the deceased has been preserved and sent for forensic analysis to ascertain the exact cause of death."

The mother of the girl had approached the police on Thursday to file a missing complaint.

"She claimed that the girl went missing on Tuesday night," said the SP.

On the basis of the complaint by the mother, an FIR was lodged at the Colonelganj police station.

Three people, Jagdish Dubey, Pappu, and Surendra Pandey, have been named as accused in the case.

"Surendra Pandey had an old property dispute with the family members of the girl. Efforts are being made to arrest those named in the FIR," the SP said.

Some people from the ashram have been detained, the police said.

According to local people, the victim's father went missing under suspicious circumstances three years ago and his whereabouts are still unknown.