Shakti Mills gang-rape: How a few good men helped crack the case

Manohar DhanavadeRole Investigation officer in photojournalistrsquos rape in Shakti MillsDesignation Police Inspector of Crime Branch IIIldquoGathering evidence was a big challenge in the Shakti Mills rape caserdquo recalled Police Inspector Manohar Dhanavade On August 25 three days after the crime the case was transferred to Crime Branch unit III and Dhanavade then a respected subinspector from the 1992 batch was appointed to conduct a speedy and sound investigation of the caseAlso read Shakti Mills One year on more women coming forward to register rape casesldquoI knew it was a very important case and I had to collect a lot of scientific as well as other kinds of evidence and find witnesses to make the case strong From day one I made the case my priority so that it would be watertight in courtrdquo recalled Dhanavade The case came to him at a time when public rage over the New Delhi gangrape case was still simmering and the pressure was palpableldquoWe filed a 600 pagelong chargesheet just 27 days after the crime and I am satisfied Thanks to guidance from senior officers like Himanshu Roy and Sadanand Date we managed to get death sentences for three of the accused Qasim Bengali Vijay Jadhav and Mohammad Salim Ansarirdquo said DhanavadeMohammed Siddiq ShaikhRole Sketch artistldquoIt was the most shocking case I worked on The Mumbai Police in its entirety was put to the task of nabbing the accused as early as possible The common people were outraged by the crimeFor me the most challenging part was extracting relevant information from the survivor and the eyewitness at the time that I did Apart from the immense pressure to deliver there was the sensitive nature of the crimerdquo recalled ShaikhAlso read Shakti Mills gangrape The timelineHe added ldquoAt 1 am I got a call from the police and reached the hospital in half an hour The place was teeming with police officers and media persons It was very difficult to take information from the eyewitness By 5 am I had made the sketches and the cops were out with them in search of the accusedrdquoSanjay NikumbeRole Investigation officer for the telephone operatorrsquos rape in Shakti MillsDesignation Police Inspector of Crime Branch Unit III On April 4 the court awarded two of the accused life sentences on the basis of a 362page chargesheet filed by the police team led by Sanjay NikumbeldquoThough three of the accused were common to both cases we had to arrest two other accused one of whom was a minor Once we arrested them we started collecting evidence and technical evidence Though there was little forensic evidence we managed to get the call detail records conducted an identification parade and found witnesses so that we could wrest life terms for the accusedrdquo said NikumbeNitin YadavRole Sketch artistNitin Yadav 49 a Kurlabased schoolteacher has been working as a sketch artist with the police for decades Speaking to midday he said ldquoI have been doing this for over 25 years now and the gangrape was one of the most brutal cases I worked on I was summoned by the police and reached at the police station at 230 am where the atmosphere was extremely tenseBy 6 am I had drawn two sketches on the basis of the description provided to me by the survivor With the help of this portrait the first arrest was made in the case I am extremely happy that the culprits have been given capital punishment I feel good when sketches made by me lead to arrests of criminals I will continue to serve society in this mannerrdquo