Fake 'cops' held for gangrape of Delhi teenager; one accused shot at by police

Three men were arrested for allegedly gangraping a teenager near Kalkaji Mandir after posing as policemen and threatening the victim and her 17-year-old male friend, police said.

The incident took place inside a dilapidated stone structure in Aastha Kunj Park. The accused—Asif, Hemant, and Mukesh—allegedly took turns assaulting the girl while also beating up her male friend.

Asif reportedly lured the victims at gunpoint into the secluded part of the park. The two other accused, Hemant, a practising lawyer, and Mukesh, a final-year BSc Mathematics student, were arrested from their residence in Delhi’s Sriniwaspuri. They are natives of Faridabad.

Police said the accused knew each other and often met near the park. Asif, who used to work as an onion wholesaler in Okhla Mandi, fired shots at police while trying to flee near Amar Colony’s DM Office Road. One bullet hit a police constable’s bulletproof jacket, and in self-defence, officers fired back, injuring Asif in the right leg. He was hospitalised at AIIMS trauma centre.

The girl and her friend had visited Kalkaji Mandir for prayers and later entered the park through Gate No. 7. The accused approached them, falsely identifying themselves as policemen, and warned them they could be charged for being minors in the park. They separated the girl from her friend before carrying out the assault.

An FIR was lodged under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Police are searching for other potential victims as no prior complaints have been reported.

The park’s unsecured, poorly lit areas and damaged boundary walls were cited as enabling factors in the crime.

The families of Hemant and Mukesh denied involvement, alleging police brutality and a conspiracy to frame them.

This is the fourth reported sexual assault on minors in Delhi in recent weeks, raising serious safety concerns.