MP CM Removes Raisen SP After 6-Year-Old’s Rape Accused Evades Arrest for 5 Days

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav, in a dramatic late-night intervention on Tuesday, ordered the immediate removal of Raisen district Superintendent of Police Pankaj Pandey and attached him to the state Police Headquarters as Assistant IG, holding the officer directly accountable for the shocking failure to arrest a 23-year-old accused who abducted and brutally raped a six-year-old girl on November 21, leaving her for dead in a jungle.

During an emergency high-level law and order review convened at the PHQ in Bhopal, the Chief Minister expressed explosive displeasure not only over the complete absence of progress in apprehending the fugitive Salman—now at large for five full days despite massive deployment—but also over the police’s insensitive and ineffective handling of escalating public fury, including prolonged highway blockades and violent protests by hundreds of local residents, predominantly women, in the Mandideep and Gauharganj areas.

The horrific incident occurred when the minor, innocently playing outside her home in a village under Gauharganj police station limits, was lured into nearby thick jungle with the promise of chocolate; there, the accused allegedly subjected her to savage sexual assault before abandoning her in a critical condition; she continues to battle physical and psychological trauma under intensive care at AIIMS Bhopal, while her family and community remain engulfed in grief and outrage.

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In a swift administrative purge reflecting zero tolerance for dereliction of duty, Yadav simultaneously removed the station house officer of Misrod police station in Bhopal for unrelated but repeated failures in crime control, and appointed Bhopal Zone-I Deputy Commissioner of Police Ashutosh Sharma as the new SP of Raisen district to personally oversee the manhunt and restore public confidence.

Despite the announcement of a Rs 30,000 reward, formation of more than 20 specialised teams comprising over 300 personnel, and extensive combing operations across central Madhya Pradesh, the prime accused remains elusive, intensifying demands for justice and exposing systemic delays in response that have now triggered a major shake-up at the top of the district police hierarchy.

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