Rape case accused flees custody at IGI Airport

PTI

New Delhi, December 25

An accused in a rape case registered in Punjab gave security personnel the slip after he was taken into immigration custody on his arrival from Bahrain at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here, official sources said on Monday.

lookout circular

A lookout circular was issued against Amandeep Singh, a resident of Fatehgarh Sahib, in April 2020. The circular followed the registration of a case against him at a Ludhiana police station under Section 376 of the IPC.

Amandeep Singh arrived from the Gulf country on an Air India flight on December 20. Immigration officials detained him in connection with a lookout circular (LOC) issued by the Ludhiana police in connection with an investigation linked to an FIR registered by them in April 2020, sources said.

Amandeep, on the run since the filing of the case, was handed over to Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel deployed at the airport, a Delhi Police official said.

“The CISF personnel were on way to handing him over to the Delhi Police when he fled from their custody by jumping from counter number 33 in the arrival section of the Immigration Department around 10 am,” another official said.

One of the officials escorting Amandeep had gone to the washroom when the accused escaped, he claimed. The CISF, however, countered the claim and denied any lapse by its personnel.

“It is pertinent to mention that no entry was made regarding the LOC-issued passenger by immigration officials in the register on arrival,” said CISF chief spokesperson Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Shrikant Kishore.

As the accused was not in the CISF custody, this could not be called a lapse on part of the force, he claimed.

An internal inquiry has been initiated into the incident by central security agencies, sources said.

The police said a case under Section 224 (resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension) of the IPC had been lodged at the IGI Airport police station in connection with the incident.

Police sources said several teams had been formed to nab the accused.

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