Power dept engineer attempts rape,extortion,arrested

An assistant engineer,posted with the distribution unit of the Power department in Saharanpur,was arrested on Wednesday after he allegedly tried to extort money from a consumer and made a bid to rape her relative.

Saharanpur SP (City) Pramod Kumar said a resident of the Sharda Nagar locality had got an FIR lodged on Tuesday night against R P Singh — posted as sub-divisional officer (SDO) in the district. The complainant had alleged that Singh visited her house on Tuesday evening to collect power dues worth Rs 80,000. After checking the power meter box,Singh claimed that the seal of the box was broken. He threatened her saying if she did not pay an additional amount,her connection would be snapped. According to the complainant,when she told Singh that she was unable to pay the money,the SDO entered her house,caught hold of her daughter-in-law and tried to rape her. Singh fled when they raised an alarm,she added.

The SP (City) said that medical tests have found bruises around the victim’s neck and hands. “This corroborates the complaint. The engineer was later arrested,” Kumar added.