Indian
Express: Vadodara: Thursday, November 01, 2012.
When the
17-year-old daughter of Jaswantsinh Rathod was allegedly kidnapped from their
house at Poicha village in Savli taluka of Vadodara, he knew she was taken away
by one Buddha Padhiyar, a driver who had presented himself as their
well-wisher.
Rathod filed
an FIR under sections 363 and 366 of the Indian Penal Code at the Savli police
station on March 13, accusing Padhiyar of kidnapping Daksha Rathod. A month
later, he located Padhiyar in Vadodara and informed the nearby Gotri police
station, which took him under custody. Later in the day, they handed him over
to Savli police station, as revealed by the reply to an Right to Information
(RTI) application dated October 14.
Now, six
months on, Rathod is as clueless about the whereabouts of Padhiyar as the Savli
police which took him under their custody.
In reply to
an RTI application dated August 13, the Savli police said they “never arrested”
Padhiyar, though the then investigating officer, M V Gadhvi, acknowledged that
he let off Padhiyar due to lack of evidence.
Gadhvi, who
is currently posted at the Ahmedabad city police control room, told the The
Indian Express that he had let off Padhiyar because he found no evidence to
build a case against him. The officer added that he had given instruction to
Padhiyar to produce himself before the police whenever required.
Later,
Padhiyar ran away, leaving behind his family in Anand, and remains untraceable.
Rathod’s daughter also remains missing.
“When we
approached him (Padhiyar) again later for further investigation, we found he
had run away. This makes him a strong suspect. Investigation is on and we have
not yet been able to find Rathod’s daughter,” Gadhvi said.
He said the
Savli police maintained Padhiyar’s file even as the RTI reply said the police
had no knowledge of Padhiyar. “When the Gotri police say they handed Padhiyar
to the Savli police, which came the same day for his custody, then why was he
let off without even seeking his remand? I have seen Padhiyar taking away my
daughter,” said Rathod.
Gotri police
station in-change Karsanbhai Ganjibhai said head constable Rajendra Nanurao had
received information that a kidnapping suspect was located in Gotri, after
which he arrested him and handed him over to the Savli police the same day.
Savli ASI Udesinh Amarsinh Chauhan acknowledged he took Padhiyar into custody
on instruction from Gadhvi.
Activist Atul
Gamechi, who filed RTI applications to both the police stations, said he first
sought information on Padhiyar from Savli police station on August 13, seeking
to know as to where the accused was arrested, when he was taken to Savli and
when he was produced before court.
“In the RTI
reply, Savli police said they had no record on Padhiyar after which we filed
another application to Gotri police station on October 14, asking as to when
Padhiyar was arrested and when he was handed over to Savli police. The reply
said he was arrested on April 14 and his custody was handed over to ASI Udesinh
Amarsinh Chauhan the same day,” he said.
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