The May I Help You assistance booth outside Patna Junction station. Picture by Jai Prakash

Patna, April 14: The night 17-year-old Geeta (name changed) boarded an autorickshaw outside the Patna Junction only to be assaulted and gangraped, the constables at the police booth set up last year in December near the station recorded the names and details of 17 autorickshaws reserved by passengers from the station. But not a single auto was booked for Kadamkuan, where the victim wanted to go.

The cops are claiming that the girl did not avail the service provided by the police for the security of the passengers coming out of the station during the night.

She “chose” to take an auto from a different location. However, when The Telegraph asked the policemen at the post to show the register today, one of them said: “We don’t have the permission to do that.”

A police officer said: “We have checked the register, which has the name and details of the auto drivers moving out of the Patna Junction during the night. There are 17 autorickshaws, which were booked for different locations on April 12 night but none was booked for Kadamkuan, where the girl had to go. Though she is not giving the police a concrete answer, we believe she might have got into a moving auto from a different location. She might have walked down till Veena cinema, which is near to the railway station but far from the police booth, and got into an auto. She didn’t avail the police service at all.”

Sources said it is impossible that no one on April 12 took an auto to Kadamkuan, which is a popular destination and is just 2km from the railway junction.

Shocked by the incident, people of the state capital said the police cannot shrug-off responsibility saying the girl did not take the auto from the station premises.

“A girl is picked up, taken to a secluded place, raped and then the police say she didn’t avail the help the police are providing. The police can’t run away from their responsibility. A serious crime has occurred and it is the job of the police to provide security to the people anywhere in the city,” said Romila Sinha, a student.

People also complained about the night patrolling and some said the police remain elusive during the night.

“Where is the patrolling during the night? The police have to accept that a lapse on their part led to such a gruesome incident,” another student, who refused to be named, said.

After the December 4, 2010 incident, when a woman from Uttar Pradesh was gangraped by two auto drivers after she had boarded an auto from the railway junction in the evening, former Patna superintendent of police B.S. Meena had started the police booth on the station premise. The “May I Help You” booth is manned by an officer and two constables. It is open from 9pm till 6am.

A passenger looking for an autorickshaw has to come down to the booth, the police then calls a driver, takes down his vehicle registration number, his mobile number and his name.

Then the destination, contact number and the name of the passenger are also noted down in the register.

Once this is done, a passenger is given a card by the police, which has the name and contact details of the senior superintendent of police, the city superintendent of police, deputy superintendent of police (law and order) and the numbers of the nearest police stations. Once these formalities are done, the driver is allowed to move.

The station remains packed with commuters everyday and commuters are doubtful if the police update the entries.