Rape accused Inspector Qureshi had planted crude bombs on HC premises: Police

In order to gain sympathy from the police and prove his credentials, Police Inspector F M Qureshi, arrested in a rape case, had allegedly planted crude bombs on the service road that leads to the Gujarat High Court and recovered it later, a senior official alleged today.

Qureshi, who was the security in-charge of the Gujarat High Court, has been arrested for allegedly raping a 37-year old woman, police said.

The Gujarat assembly election results were announced on December 20 and the High Court had received a letter threatening some days before the results that it would be blown up. The HC had handed over the letter to the police Department for investigation.

"During the interrogation, it was revealed that Qureshi had conspired to plant crude bombs on the service road that leads to the Gujarat HC. He himself then traced the crude bombs in order to gain sympathy," Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) A K Sharma said.

"He had gathered explosives from a cycle shop in Mirzapur and some other crackers during Diwali celebrations in a bid to plant crude bombs on the High Court premises," Sharma added.

However, Sharma said Qureshi has denied having written the threat letter.

Meanwhile, in the rape case, the metropolitan court today remanded Qureshi to three-day police custody and rejected the 7-day police custody demand made by the victim's counsel. Sharma said he was taken to Bhuj and Anjar yesterday and entries made in the hotels in the two cities have confirmed that Qureshi had stayed at the hotels in Kutch.

The Crime Branch had arrested Qureshi on Tuesday here for allegedly raping a 37-year-old woman and extorting Rs 50,000 from her. The woman had registered an FIR against the inspector a day before he was arrested.

The victim, according to police, was allegedly raped between November 1 and December 31 by Qureshi, who in the guise of helping her, took her to hotels and her home, and physically abused her.

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