Army colonel accused of raping friend's wife arrested
Kanpur (UP), Dec 15: An Army colonel accused of raping his civilian friend's wife of Russian origin after intoxicating her husband at the Officers' Mess in Cantonment area was arrested on Tuesday.
"Col Neeraj Gahlot was arrested while trying to flee to an unknown place to evade his arrest," said Superintendent of Police (East) Raj Kumar Agarwal.
Police had launched a manhunt for Col Neeraj Gahlot whose mobile location was traced in the vicinity of officers' mess on Monday evening but he had been evading his arrest, said Cantonment Circle' Additional Superintendent of Police Nikhil Pathak.
A team headed by Chakeri police station's SHO Ravi Srivastava was dispatched to nab the absconding officer, but his room was found locked from outside, the ASP said.
The colonel posted here was booked on Sunday for allegedly raping his friend's wife at the Officers' Mess, police said.
The victim's husband, a civilian, lodged an FIR against the Army officer at the Cantonment police station, SP Agarwal had said earlier.
According to the complainant, his wife is of Russian descent and has been living in India for 10 years.
The accused allegedly had invited his civilian friend to the Officer's Mess and gave him an intoxicating drink which made him him unconscious, said police adding the Army officer subsequently raped his friend's wife.
The accused also allegedly assaulted the woman when she put up a resistance.
After raping the woman, the colonel took leave from his bosses and went underground to evade arrest, said an official.
The rape survivor was subsequently produced before a judicial magistrate who recorded her statement under section 164 of the CrPC, said Pathak, adding the statement, however, is yet to be shown to the police.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
