Magroob gives police a slip

Shimla, Aug 1 (UNI) A day after the Himachal Pradesh High Court cancelled Mohammad Magroob's bail, he gave police a slip at Jhamakri Phull in Bilaspur district early today, while being taken to Mandi for the trial, Mandi SP M Chandershekar has said.

Magroob is accused of throwing acid on Mamta Katoch, then a BA second year student of Mandi degree College, in a moving bus on May 27 last year, while she was returning home from college after she spurned his advances.

Magroob jumped from the moving Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) bus at Jhamakri Phull, about 45 km from here, and escaped, while he was being taken to Mandi for trial, he said.

The HP High Court yesterday cancelled his bail and sent him to judicial custody on a plea by the victim's father who said the accused was threatening him and his family with dire consequences.

Mr Chandershekar said the two police officials accompanying the accused have been suspended for dereliction of duty and negligence and a manhunt has been launched to arrest him.

The police has constituted five teams, one of which had been dispatched to the site from where he fled, while four others have been asked to guard border roads to prevent his exit from the district, he said.

The Mandi SP said the police headquarters have been informed of that Magroob had escaped from the police custody and an alert has been sounded in the districts to arrest him.

The victim's father Khem Singh has sought police protection for his daughter and family, saying their lives were in danger after his escape from police custody.

''He has been threatening my daughter, Mamta, and other family members ever since we have lodged a complaint against him,'' he told UNI over telephone from Mandi town.

Mr Singh said he approached the Mandi SP earlier in the day and sought police protection from the accused who has threatened to finish the whole family.

Magroob and people close to him have been threatening the Kathoch family and were pressurising to withdraw the case or face dire consequences, he added.

UNI AS HS LS KN1920