Santosh Gupta is a former Indian journalist who worked as a news reporter in ‘Dainik Navjyoti’, a local newspaper in Rajasthan. He is known for covering the news of ‘Ajmer Rape Case-1992’. He provided extensive coverage of the case until the mid-2000s and also appeared several times as a prosecution witness.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Santosh Gupta was born in 1965 in Ajmer, Rajasthan.
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 9″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
parents and siblings
There is not much information about his parents and siblings.
wife and kids
There is not much information about his marital status and children.
livelihood
Santosh Gupta is a former news reporter who worked for Dainik Navjyoti newspaper. However, later he started working in a private hospital, where he was given the responsibility of looking after public relations.
‘1992 Ajmer Rape Case Covering’
Santosh Gupta exposed one of India’s most reprehensible crimes that took place in 1992 in Ajmer, Rajasthan. The case was about over 250 minor girls who were raped and blackmailed by a gang led by former Indian youth politicians and Khadims of Ajmer Sharif Dargah, Farooq Chishti and Nafees Chishti. Reportedly, Farooq and Nafees Chishti used to fool school and college girls by gaining their trust in the 1990s. They used to first trap minor girls and then used to call them to their farmhouse on Foy Sagar Road, where they were raped. They also used to take obscene pictures of the girls to keep their mouth shut and blackmail them. This horrific crime came to light when Santosh Gupta exposed the matter in an article published on 21 April 1992 in Dainik Navjyoti, a local newspaper of Rajasthan. However, the report did not attract much attention until 15 May 1992 when Santosh Gupta published a second report on the case, containing blurred images of nude survivors. This revelation caused an immediate uproar and fueled public anger. In response, Ajmer observed a complete shutdown on 18 May 1992 to protest against this heinous crime.
A newspaper cutting of Ajmer rape case 1992
Disclosure of obscene pictures
The former reporter revealed in an interview how obscene photographs of the victims reached the media, which eventually exposed the real faces of Nafees Chishti and Farooq Chishti, former Indian youth politicians and Khadim (caretaker) of Ajmer Sharif Dargah, who were the main leaders of the gang. Gupta disclosed that, at that time, a reel developer named Purshottam had told about the sexual abuse pictures to his neighbor Devendra Jain, who was looking through a pornographic magazine. Purushottam’s claim about having even more explicit material, which he called “real material”, worried Devendra. Thereafter, Devendra made copies of the photographs that Purushottam had and shared them with the local Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) group and the newspaper Dainik Navajyoti. On receiving the photographs, the VHP workers handed them over to the police and started an official investigation into the matter.
accused
After years of investigation, 18 people were found accused in the rape and blackmailing case, some of whom were also the caretakers of Dargah Moinuddin Chishti, a Sufi shrine in Ajmer Sharif. Farooq Chishti, former president of Ajmer Youth Congress, was identified as the lowly leader of the gang. Other accused include Nafees Chishti, Moizullah alias Puttan, Ishrat Ali, Anwar Chishti and Shamshuddin alias Maradona. In 1994, a criminal named Purshottam tragically died by suicide. In 1998, the District Sessions Court convicted eight of the accused and sentenced them to life imprisonment. However, in 2001, the Rajasthan High Court acquitted four of them, and later the Supreme Court reduced the sentence of the remaining four to ten years in 2003. Later, other accused were arrested and faced trial at different intervals over the next few decades. Farooq Chishti claimed he was mentally unstable to face trial. However, a fast-track court found him guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment in 2007. Then, in 2013, the Rajasthan High Court decided that he had already served enough time in jail and released him. In 2012, authorities arrested Salim Chishti, who was on the run. On 4 January 2012, the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Rajasthan Police arrested one of the accused, Syed Salim Chishti, from Khalid Mohalla of Ajmer in connection with the case. On 15 February 2018, Suhail Gani Chishti, who had been evading arrest, surrendered before the district court in Ajmer after 26 years.
Ajmer rape case 1992 convicts
in popular media
In 2021, a web series based on the Ajmer Rape Case-1992 titled ‘Ajmer 1992’ was announced. The web series was directed by Pushpendra Singh and featured Bhopal-based film and theater actor Sahil Mishra in the lead role. The web series was expected to start streaming in December 2021. In July 2023, a film titled ‘Ajmer 92’ based on the same incident was released. The film was directed by Pushpendra Singh and starred Karan Verma, Sumit Singh and Rajesh Sharma in lead roles.
Poster of the film ‘Ajmer 92’
facts/common sense
- In an interview, Gupta explained how the political power and social influence of Nafees Chishti and Farooq Chishti helped them commit the heinous crime. The former reporter recounts an incident and reveals the luxurious lifestyle of the criminals at that time. They said,
All this influence helped him. I remember one incident when both of them went to Elite in their jeep where some schoolgirls were sitting. One of them called up the (restaurant) manager and asked him to distribute ice cream to everyone as it was a friend’s birthday. It may sound filmy, but it can mesmerize anyone during that time. Every crime reporter followed the gang closely because with great power comes great crime stories.
- In an interview Gupta talked about the social stigma created in the city after the incident. He revealed that after the Ajmer rape case came to light, people started believing that the girls of the city were the victims of this crime. He further disclosed that during that time, many unknown persons started approaching him to know whether the girls whom he wanted to marry were victims of the case or not. They said,
No one wanted to marry the girls of Ajmer. I used to get a lot of unwanted visitors in the 90s. People used to tell me about upcoming weddings and then show the picture of the bride. They used to ask me to tell whether she was one of them or not. He further added, “In the months after the story came out, if a girl died by suicide, it was assumed that she was a gang victim.”
- The former journalist believes that the victims are still facing difficulties because of the attitude of the authorities in handling the case. Instead of focusing on getting justice to the victims, the police were more concerned about the possible problems in public order due to the scam.
- Santosh Gupta mentioned in an interview how the convicts in the case used their religious power to lead a privileged life and seek the support of higher authorities in various cases. Talking about this in the interview, he said,
They used this religious power to gain political influence. From the SP to the SHO used to call him to discuss the FIR or issue an appeal. No one could say no to him.”
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn