Three policemen, including one from the Special Branch, at the Vellore North police station has been shifted to Armed Reserve (AR) wing of the district police on Thursday for dereliction of duty.
The transfers came in the wake of an incident in which a woman doctor, hailing from Bihar, was allegedly gang-raped by three persons, including two juveniles, while two co-accused held down her male colleague in Vellore on March 16. Subsequently, all five accused were arrested. The crime happened within the limits of the Vellore North police station.
The orders were given orally by Superintendent of Police (SP) S. Rajesh Kannan, sources said. The police constables are Jayakaran, Nithayanathan, both attached to the Vellore North police station, and Suresh Babu, of the Special Branch of the district police. They did not obey certain instructions given by the senior police officers, sources said.
The police said the issue was related to pictures of the suspects leaking onto social media, hampering the investigation. In fact, the police also requested mediapersons, including news channels, not to reveal the identity of the survivor and the suspects.
Earlier in the day, over 350 autorickshaw drivers, including share autorickshaw drivers, took part in a consultative meeting that was organised by the district police to sensitise them on the need to alert the police in case of such incidents. Drivers were advised to carry all valid documents, especially during night duty. They were also asked to report any suspicious commuters.
Senior police officers, including Additional SP (Vellore) Sundaramurthy, Deputy SPs — Palani (Katpadi) and Ramamurthy (Gudiyatham) and Regional Transport Officer Senthilvelan urged autorickshaw drivers not to rent their vehicles for unknown persons.
Meanwhile, the police have intensified checks, especially at night, in key intersections like Green Circle, Chittoor bus stand, Katpadi, Makkan junction and RTO Road in Sathuvachari since Wednesday. Each spot has at least three police personnel to verify documents of all vehicles. These police teams work between 9.30 p.m. and 6 a.m. every day.
