By IANS,
New Delhi: Delhi Police Saturday refuted allegations by the friend of the Dec 16 gang-rape victim that policemen argued over jurisdictional area, losing precious time that might have proven crucial in saving her.
In a short explanation, Delhi Police said that the Police Control Room (PCR) van got the first call at 10.21 p.m. that night about two people, including a woman, lying on the road in a pool of blood.
Police claimed that two rescue vans reached the spot within minutes and took the victims to hospital 33 minutes after receiving the first distress call.
“The PCR call was received at 10.21.35 p.m. the call was broadcast to PCR vans and Van Z-54 was directed to the spot,” a statement from Delhi Police said.
It said PCR Van E-47 reached the spot at 10:27:43 pm.
The statement said Van Z-54 reached the spot at 10:29:29, that is, 7.9 minutes after recieving the call and left the spot with the victims at 10:39:30 pm. It reached Safdarjang Hospital in 16.20 minutes at 10:55 p.m.
Delhi Police Joint Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Vivek Gogia said the victims were taken to the hospital in PCR van Z-54 in 16 minutes.
He said PCR vans reached the spot and personnel organised a bedsheet for them from a nearby hotel.
Making a point-to-point rebuttal of the charges raised by victim’s friend in an interview with TV news channel Zee News, Gogia said there was no bickering over jurisdiction among PCR vans.
He said PCR vans were directly under the control room and not under any police station.
“The PCR system is directly connected to a centralized system connected with GPS (Global Positioning System),” Gogia added.
On the victim’s friend allegation that they could have been taken to a nearby hospital, Gogia said the injured in such cases are taken to a notified designated government hospital for medico-legal examination.
Gogia said that victim’s friend was taken to an appropriate accommodation following his discharge from hospital and the expenses were borne by police.
About the remarks by victim’s friend that police should not have praised themselves for arresting the accused, Gogia said they were not seeking appreciation or praise.
“We performed our duty and conveyed the information,” said Gogia.
Breaking his silence for the first time since the brutal Dec 16 gang-rape, the victim’s friend Friday said he wished he could have saved the 23-year-old woman.
He also blamed police for delay in taking them to hospital for over two hours and said three PCR vans fought over jurisdiction.