Rajkot: Rajkot: The Rajkot Rural police failed to arrest two men accused of raping a minor girl in 2024 and later murdering her uncle earlier this week, despite repeated warnings from the survivor’s family that the duo posed a serious threat to their lives.Mahendrasinh Jadeja and Yashpalsinh Jadeja, who had allegedly raped the girl multiple times and brutally hacked to death her uncle on the night of May 20 in Khakhadabela village of Paddhari taluka, have been on the run for over two years now.On Friday, Rajkot Range IGP Nirlipt Rai suspended four policemen for not arresting the accused for such a long period of time. Now, a 100-member team of various police departments has been formed to trace and nab the two.In a fresh revelation, it has emerged that the accused also allegedly attempted to kill the minor girl’s father to pressure the family into settling the rape case.According to the minor girl’s father, he submitted several applications to Padadhari police station since April 2024, when the complaint of rape was lodged, urging police to arrest the accused and warning that the absconding men could attack the family.Speaking to TOI, he said, “I submitted around 25 to 30 applications and visited the police station several times. But the police only kept saying that the investigation was underway.” He added that his murdered brother also shared the accused persons’ locations with police on multiple occasions.The victim’s father also lodged a complaint at Padadhari Police Station against Ranjitsinh Jadeja, father of Mahendrasinh, on May 31, 2025, under BNS sections of death threats. In the complaint, he alleged that Ranjitsinh intercepted him with a tractor while he was riding his motorcycle and threatened to kill him if he refused to settle the POCSO case.According to the complainant, police repeatedly told the family to inform them if they received any information about the whereabouts of the accused.Four policemen, including police inspector and POCSO case investigating officer H N Rathod, then station house officer and inspector S N Parmar, sub-inspector J J Vala, and assistant sub-inspector Bhagirathsinh Jadeja, were suspended.Speaking to TOI, IGP Nirlipt Rai said, “The suspension orders mention these past incidents and that sincere efforts were not made to arrest the accused. The suspended police officials were negligent in their duty.”
