Gangrape accused had received 'Best Teacher' award

Patan, Gujarat, Feb 6 (UNI) One of the accused in the shocking gangrape case involving teachers, had been honoured with the ''Best Teacher'' award by the state government.

Dr Atul, one of the accused, had received the state government's ''Best Teacher'' award earlier and is also considered close to a minister in the present government.

The teacher, according to police, had raped a student of Primary Teachers College 14 times over the past two months.

Meanwhile, protests in different parts of the state continued for the third day today in condemnation of the incident.

The parents of the girl have been on a fast at the college campus since the shocking incident came to light on February 3.

The parents have expressed doubts about getting justice. ''we do not want empty promises, we want solid action,'' they said.

Dr Atul, according to sources here, is close to State Revenue Minister Anandiben Patel who is a former Education Minister and represents Patan in the state Assembly. Most of the accused teachers hold masters degree, and two of them, including Dr Atul, hold PhD.

The Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party have lambasted the government for the ''delay'' in investigations, and the BSP has demanded Anandiben Patel's resignation.

Various social organisations have demanded a CBI inquiry into the incident instead of a magisterial inquiry.

UNI HT-PB MAZ KK HT1835