Dombivli gang rape: Timing of FIR helped make speedy and maximum arrests, say cops

The timing of the first information report (FIR) registered by the Dombivli sexual abuse victim helped the police officers apprehend a majority of the accused within a single night. As of Friday evening, the police had arrested 27 and detained two more — who are minors — out of the total 33 accused

The timing of the first information report (FIR) registered by the Dombivli sexual abuse victim helped the police officers apprehend a majority of the accused within a single night.

The survivor, who stays with her family in Dombivli (East), was allegedly blackmailed and sexually assaulted by 33 accused from January to September this year.

The victim, who stays with her family in Dombivli (East), was allegedly blackmailed and sexually assaulted by 33 accused from January to September this year. The FIR was registered late on Wednesday night, and by Thursday morning, the police had arrested 22 accused and detained two more, who were minors.

According to the Manpada police, the victim’s aunt and a local social worker were trying to trap the accused on Wednesday. Six of the accused had called the victim to a house rented by one of them in the Kole village in Dombivli, and the plan was to catch them red-handed at the time. However, the autorickshaw, in which the aunt and the social worker were following the victim had a flat tyre, after which they immediately called up the Manpada police.

“As soon as we got the call, we rushed a team to the house based on the live location that the victim had sent to her aunt. Four of the six accused were caught from the spot and brought to the police station. We started questioning them right away. Two others had left by the time we reached,” an officer said.

“We briefed all the teams about the seriousness of the offence as well as the task at hand. The priority was to apprehend the accused before they started fleeing the city. Fortunately, since the FIR was registered late at night, none of the accused learned about it and this worked in our favour,” the officer said.

Another officer added that to further eliminate the chances of the news of the FIR leaking out, it was decided to coordinate the raids as much as possible. Hence, several of the arrests were made at the same time.

“Our orders were to make a majority of the arrests before morning and reveal nothing to anyone other than the immediate family of the accused. True to our hunch, the news of the FIR broke out by Thursday morning, but by then our teams had already reached the locations of the remaining accused. A lot of social workers and politicians started visiting the police station. Had this happened immediately after the FIR was registered, the arrests could have been delayed,” the officer said.

As of Friday evening, the police had arrested 27 and detained two more — who are minors — out of the total 33 accused.