The three accused—Praveen, Anil Bhati and Ashok Kumar — were arrested for helping Chhatrapal move out of the city after he managed to escape from the district courts, police said.

P K Sharma, SHO of the Sector-49 Police Station, said, “The interrogation of the relatives threw up names of these people and after initial investigation, their involvement was established.”

The three accused are said to be close to Chhatrapal and, officials say, they misled the police into raiding his relatives and friends.

Sources say Praveen — a resident of Barola village in Sector-49 — picked up Chhatrapal from an undisclosed location whereas Anil Bhati, a resident of Sector-34, and Ashok Kumar, resident of Faridabad had given him refuge.

One of them is said to have picked up Chhatrapal’s girlfriend from Delhi and that both are hiding in Etah district of UP.

Sources say Chhatrapal was in the city for at least a day after escaping from the court of Additional District Judge.

According to police, the involvement of Chhatrapal’s girlfriend from Delhi has been almost established as the girl has not reached home since his escape.

The police are planning to question the girl’s domestic help, who, officials say, could be the woman present in the court on the day of his escape.

One of the seven teams set up to handle the case will be raiding a few places in the Etah soon, sources said.

Suspended cops go to court
The three suspended constables and one head constable, suspended after Chhatrapal escaped have decided to move the Allahabad High Court against the decision. Constables Karam Vir, Bhagwati Prasad, Avnish Tyagi and Head Constable Govind Sharan Sharma said their suspensions are against law.

The men had been suspended for negligence in the case and are also alleged to have connived with Chhatrapal to help him case.