Mumbai : In a major twist to the Diva gangrape charges against four Railway Protection Force (RPF) constables, the Mumbra police on Friday night booked the complainant and her aide for allegedly demanding Rs 95,000 from the “accused” to withdraw the complaint.
The accused have been identified as Mamta Mishra and Mohan Bitale.The police have also booked a reporter from a well-known publication in the alleged case of extortion.
“We will re-investigate the gangrape charge. The matter is being investi-gated,”said Senior Police Inspector R K Tayde.
The 25-year-old salesgirl had filed a complaint that she was allegedly raped by RPF constables namely P K Singh, B K Singh, Dipak Rathod and Mahendra Singh Baghel at an RPF chowky at Diva station on January 14.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police Abhishek Trimukhe, “The woman’s aide, identified as Mohan Bitale, called the RPF constables to a hotel in Diva and demanded money to settle the case. He told them that the woman would file an affidavit and withdraw the rape case. The accused recorded the conversation and submitted it to us. Bitla changed the location four times after finally meeting them at a hotel in Dombivli around 4 pm.”
“We caught the woman and Batla accepting Rs 95,000 from the four RPF constables. We will now re-investigate into the rape charge as it is now appears that it could be an extortion case. However, we are not concluding that the rape case is false,” said Trimukhe.
On Friday, the RPF suspended Diva senior inspector Rajkumar Dhanvij as the crime allegedly took place in his RPF outpost.
A native of Uttar Pradesh, the woman was known to P K Singh, who hailed from her home town. The woman was married in Uttar Pradesh and came to Mumbai to live on her own due to a marital dispute and the constables reportedly promised to find her a job.
“The allegations made against the reporter are yet being investigated,” he said.
Meanwhile, Thane Police Commissioner Parambir Singh, at a meeting with journalists, assured them that a fair investigation will be conducted in this matter.
