CBI takes over Budaun case

After persistent demands from political parties, the CBI on Thursday took over the gang-rape and murder case of two teenage cousin sisters in Budaun, more than a fortnight after the gruesome incident.

The victims were found hanging from a tree the morning after they went missing on May 27. The Centre had on Wednesday issued a notification handing over the probe from the Uttar Pradesh Police to the CBI.

Subsequently, the investigative agency registered a case. “We have received a notification from the government and registered a case,” CBI Director Ranjit Sinha said.The agency set up a 20-member team, headed by a DIG-level officer, from its Delhi-based special crime unit to begin a probe. 

The team will visit Budaun on Friday along with forensic experts who are likely to examine and recreate the crime scene. It will also seek custody of those arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police in the case.

 The state police had registered a case against seven accused, of whom five – three brothers Pappu, Awadhesh and Urvesh Yadav, and constables Chhatrapal Yadav and Sarvesh Yadav – were arrested.A CBI spokesperson said the agency had already asked the Uttar Pradesh government to extend logistical support to it for the probe.

The Samajwadi Party government in the state drew flak on a national level over the incident, with even the US and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon severly criticising over its lackadaisical attitude towards sexual violence.