Politician, 2 scribes among 5 held for Gujarat ex-DGP extortion

The accused allegedly pressurized a rape victim to sign an affidavit falsely accusing the ex-DGP of raping her to extort Rs 8 crore

The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), Monday, apprehended five persons including a local BJP leader and two journalists for allegedly attempting to extort Rs 8 crore by blackmailing a retired DGP that he would be framed in a rape case.

The police action comes nearly a week after an affidavit signed by the rape victim, naming the senior policeman, started doing the rounds on social media. An ATS source said that the accused allegedly contacted close associates of the ex-DGP to extort money. On February 9, the Director General of Police ordered the ATS to investigate the matter.

The agency said that it apprehended five persons identified as Gandabhai Kachrabhai Prajapati alias GK Dada, a politician and resident of Gandhinagar, Mahendra Parmar alias Raju Gemini, also a resident of Gandhinagar, and closely associated with Prajapati, Harsh Jadav, a resident of Surat and Ashutosh Pandya and Kartik Jani, both residents of Gandhinagar. Pandya and Jani are reported to be freelance journalists.

Soon after the news reports, state BJP general secretary Pradipsinh Vaghela passed an order suspending Prajapati from the party for "inappropriate functioning". Prajapati was working with BJP's Other Backward Caste (OBC) wing in Gandhinagar.

The ATS said that Prajapati, in connivance with four others, accused falsely named the ex-DGP in a rape victim's affidavit, which she didn't submit in court, in order to extort money. They threatened to make the affidavit viral if the money was not paid.

"An FIR has been registered with Gandhinagar police against the accused for extortion (IPC 389) and criminal conspiracy (IPC 120B) and we are handing over the case to them," said Superintendent of Police, ATS, Sunil Joshi.

The ATS said that after it was handed over the probe, it took the statement of the rape victim who had registered an FIR with one of the police stations in Gandhinagar district against one Ismail Malek under section 376 (rape) and sections of Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, among others in January.

The ATS said that before filing this complaint she came in contact with Prajapati. She is reported to have told him that she was taken to a bungalow in Chandkheda in Ahmedabad where Ismail Malek introduced her to a person said to be a 45-year-old police officer who raped her twice. The woman identified the bungalow, which she said belonged to the 45-year-old officer, and also named the residential society where it is located.

She told the ATS that Malek told her that he was a "big police officer of Ahmedabad" who would help her brother's case. The woman's brother is facing charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Prajapati, according to the ATS, told her not to mention this in her rape complaint.

Later, Prajapati introduced her to Surat resident Haresh Jadav and in her presence, they talked about extorting Rs 8 crore from the "biggest officer of Ahmedabad" and pressurized her to help. Prajapati brought his journalist friends to pressurize the officer for the money and created an affidavit in the name of the rape victim.

A press note released by the ATS stated that "later, for some reason, a photo of the police officer was shown to the victim but she told them that this police officer was not the one who raped her. After hearing this, Prajapati and others decided to name another officer. They corrected the affidavit and got it signed dated January 29, 2023."

On January 30, the rape victim had to record her statement before a magistrate under section-164 of the code of criminal procedure as part of her rape complaint. Prajapati and Jadav told the woman not to name the police officer in her statement because their extortion plan would be ruined and she wouldn't get any help. The ATS officials said that she followed the instruction and didn't mention the name of any policeman.

Subsequently, Prajapati is alleged to have created a new affidavit accusing the ex-DGP of raping the woman twice at the same bungalow where she was allegedly raped by the 45-year-old police officer. The ex-DGP, who the victim has named in the affidavit, is over 60 years of age.