Protesters take out a rally demanding the arrest of the culprits. File picture

Aug. 26: All the 16 accused in the GS Road molestation case have already been arrested by police or have surrendered, but six of them still figure prominently in the “most wanted” list of Assam police website.

Click on the “most wanted” list of Assampolice.com and you will see a photograph of Amarjyoti Kalita, the prime accused figuring on the top while five others (names not mentioned in the website) figure with their photographs though they are already in judicial custody after expiry of their initial police remand.

The “most-wanted” list says 31-year-old Kalita, a resident of Noonmati, is absconding and suspected to have taken shelter outside the state. The website “update” also says a reward of Rs 1 lakh has been announced for “providing information” about Kalita.

This was an update by the police on its website soon after the July 9 molestation incident that created a furore across the country. The police, however, have not removed the “update” and names of the accused from its most-wanted list though they are already in judicial custody.

The list also shows photographs of five others who were caught on camera groping and molesting a young girl on July 9 when she was coming out of a pub at Christanbasti after attending a party with friends.

Kalita was taken into custody on July 23 in Varanasi soon after he surrendered before the police while the rest of the accused was arrested from different places of Assam. The last accused Sikander Basfore surrendered on August 18.

The incorrect update of the wanted list of police website has invited criticism from city-based activist Ranjan Kumar Baruah who said the police should regularly update their website like their counterparts in the rest of the country to improve police-public relations.

“In this age of communication, a website is an important tool of communication with the public but it is surprising to see that the website of our police is not updated properly, though they have one. It is good that they used the website and put up photos of the accused involved in the GS Road molestation case but they forgot to update the website. A website should be properly maintained and updated on a daily basis,” Baruah said.

A police source said the website is maintained by its communication cell but it had not been updated in the past month. “The names of the six accused should have either been removed from the most-wanted list or content should be updated to inform that they have already been arrested,” the official added.

Baruah said “poor management” of its website highlighted how the police were lagging behind in using the latest communication tools to improve police-public relations.

“Our top police officers always speak of improving police-public communication but improper use of their website tells the opposite story,” Baruah said.