Prime accused in Ramol gangrape case caught from CTM

Hardik Shukla had been evading the cops for over a year; he is also wanted in many crimes including murder and bootlegging

By Asik Banerjee

After evading the cops for over a year, one of the accused in the Ramol gangrape case, considered to be the most dangerous, was picked up by Crime Branch sleuths on Wednesday.

Hardik Shukla is among the four accused of raping a 19-year-old girl who died of kidney failure following an overdose of abortion pills in April last year. He is wanted in many other crimes, including murder and bootlegging.

On Tuesday evening, a team of Crime Branch sleuths was on patrolling duty when they received a tip off that Shukla, the fourth accused in the Ramol gangrape incident, was standing near Jamfal Wadi canal near CTM. Shukla has earlier been arrested by police in murder and prohibition-related offences in Nadiad and Ahmedabad.

Shukla and three other accused -- Ankit Parekh, Raj Suthar and Chirag -- had lured the 19-year-old on the pretext of helping her clear her first-year ATKT exam and then gang-raped her. She got pregnant and delivered a stillborn baby in March 2019.

Her parents came to know about the rape only after they learnt about the pregnancy. She later took an overdose of abortion pills and died of kidney failure. DNA analysis has revealed that Ankit Parekh was the father of the stillborn. Parekh, who used to work as a clerk with the Zoology department at GU, is associated with the student wing of a political party.