'Cops sent her out of park, but she returned at night'

A senior official of the Horticulture department, which manages the Cubbon Park, said the victim of gang-rape was sent out of the park by the police on Wednesday, but she returned to the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association premises later in the night.

“The park has seven gates and the vehicles move till 10 pm. Usually, the public are not allowed to stay in the park after 7.30 pm and security guards send them out after 7.30 pm.

“The victim was sent out of the park by the police.But she came back in the night,” said    Mahantesh Murgod, deputy director of the Horticulture department (Cubbon Park).

“We have taken all the necessary steps in view of public safety on the park premises. What can we do if the security guards themselves commit such crimes. We have asked the  police to take strict action against the guilty,” Murgod said.

The two suspects were hired on a contract basis for a period of one year and they had been working at the Cubbon Park and Lalbagh for the past nine months, Murgod added.

Didn’t heed requests
Meanwhile, members from the Cubbon Park Walkers’ Association said they had earlier requested the Horticulture department to keep tabs on the security guards but the officials did not heed their words.

President of the association S Umesh said, “There is not a single CCTV camera in the park spread over an area of 192 acres and we had sent a memorandum to department in this regard,” Umesh said.

Last year, there was an attempt-to-rape incident on the park premises. Despite such incidents occurring, no action has been taken to instal CCTV cameras nor depute efficient security guards on the premises, he said.