Haryana Police have arrested an absconding accused in a 1993 auto theft case in which Ashu,brother of molestation victim Ruchika Girhotra,was falsely implicated allegedly at the behest of former top cop S P S Rathore,police said on Sunday. A team of Haryana Police assisted by their Pune counterparts yesterday morning nabbed Gajinder Singh from Baner Road area,where he used to run a dhaba,they said. Singh,a proclaimed offender who had been absconding since 1997,was taken to Haryana by the investigating team after obtaining his transit remand. Former Haryana DGP Rathore was awarded a six-month jail term by a CBI court on December 21 for molesting Ruchika,a budding tennis player,in 1990 when he was an IGP. She committed suicide three years later. Several cases related to car theft and other offences were slapped on Ashu at that time but he was later acquitted of the charges by the courts. The family alleges that false cases were brought at Rathore's behest and that Ashu was harassed and tortured in custody. Ruchika's father Subhash Chander Girhotra and Ashu had recently filed two complaints against Rathore accusing him of attempt to murder and wrongful confinement of Ashu and forging the post-mortem report of Ruchika,after which two fresh FIRs were lodged against the former IPS officer. Rathore's anticipatory bail pleas in connection with the two FIRs have also been rejected by a Panchkula sessions court.
