Rape accused escapes from custody at Delhi airport; CISF denies lapse

Rape accused Amandeep Singh has escaped from custody at Delhi airport on Monday. The CISF said the accused was not in its custody and this cannot be called a lapse on the part of the force.

New Delhi:An accused in a Punjab rape case gave a slip to security personnel after he was taken into immigration custody on his arrival from Bahrain at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here, official sources said Monday. Amandeep Singh arrived from the Gulf country on an Air India flight on December 20. Immigration officials detained him on a Look Out Circular (LOC) issued by the Ludhiana Police in connection with an investigation linked to an FIR registered by them in April 2020, the sources said.

Singh, on the run since the filing of the case, was handed over to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel deployed at the airport, a Delhi Police officer said. "The CISF personnel were on the 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 at about 10 am," another officer said.

One of the officers escorting Singh had gone to the washroom when the accused escaped, the officer 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 at arrival," CISF chief spokesperson - Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Shrikant Kishore - said.

He said that as the accused was not in CISF custody, this cannot be called a lapse on the part of the force. An internal inquiry has been initiated into the incident by central security agencies, the sources said. Police said a case under section 224 (resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension) of the Indian Penal Code has been lodged at the IGI Airport police station in connection with the incident. Several teams have been formed to nab the accused, police said.