Mastermind, six others arrested in Kaushambi for acid attack

Seven more people allegedly involved in the acid attack on a woman bank manager in the Charwa area of Kaushambi district on August 8, were nabbed by the district police here on Thursday. Thus, a total of nine persons, including the two accused nabbed after an encounter with the police on August 17, have been arrested for being involved in the attack, informed police.

SP Kaushambi Hemraj Meena said among those arrested is a business correspondent Ramchandra Pasi of Bank of Baroda’s Sayd Sarawan branch in which the woman manager Diksha Sonkar, 33, worked and who had planned the attack with one Azam, a former pradhan of village Sayd Sarawan.

“The attack was planned and executed over differences between the business correspondent and the victim over approval of certain bank loans. Investigations led to suspicion on the business correspondent, a resident of Charwa, who used to take commissions for getting loans sanctioned and ran a gang. Azam, the former pradhan, was also upset with the woman over similar reasons. They together hatched a plan to threaten her so that she would get herself transferred to some other branch,” the SP said.

To execute the plan, the duo got in touch with Dharmendra Kumar and Dilip of Charwa Rampur village, Vinod Kumar of village Ghuri, Satpal and Man Singh of Pipri, Lovkesh of Kotiya and Ausaf of Sayd Sarawan —all of whom now have been arrested and sent to jail. As per the plan, Dilip and Man Singh waylaid the victim on August 8 and threw acid on her. As she was wearing a helmet, she escaped burn injuries on her face but did sustain burns on her neck, stomach, hands and leg. The duo then fled the spot despite being chased by locals, the SP said.

On August 17, the special operations group (SOG) team received a tip off that two miscreants involved in the acid attack were at the Gungwa Bagh area. Police teams surrounded them and asked them to surrender. However, the accused opened fire at the police team. One of the bullets hit SOG in-charge Siddarth Singh but he was saved by his bulletproof jacket. In retaliatory fire by the police, the two accused were shot in their legs.

“They were identified as Dilip Kumar of Charwa Rampur village and Man Singh of Kathgaon village in Pipri area,” SP added.

Police officials said that the duo confessed to throwing acid on the bank manager and they also revealed the names of others involved in the assault.

Following the attack, an FIR was lodged against unidentified assailants on the complaint of victim’s father Rajurao Sonkar, a resident of the Himmatganj area of Prayagraj, on the day of the incident itself.

The FIR was lodged under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 352 (assault for grave injuries) and 326A (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) of the IPC.

The victim who was first admitted to SRN hospital in Prayagraj was later shifted to Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Science (SGPGIMS), Lucknow for treatment of her burns.