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Six and the last accused in Purnea gang rape case arrested
Purnea police arrested the last suspect in a gang rape case, bringing the total to six. Investigations reveal links to human trafficking and political influence.
Purnea police on Thursday arrested the sixth and the last accused involved in the gang rape of a woman, officials said.
Officials further said that all the accused were mentioned in the FIR lodged by the victim. One of the sixth accused is a woman.
In a press statement released from the office of the superintendent of police (SP) Sweety Sahrawat on Thursday, 40-year-old Mohammad Afsar, a resident of Dagarua, was arrested. The press release further said that a probe is underway from all possible angles.
Police earlier arrested Mohammad Junaid, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Mahtab alias Karu and Mohammad Istambar and a woman.
“We have found that Mohammad Junaid amassed huge wealth within a short period by allegedly using his political clout, and the police have begun investigating the economic aspects of the case,” the SP said, adding that the matter was also being probed from a human trafficking angle.
“The arrested woman has been found to be involved in human trafficking,” she said.
The 24-year-old woman whose husband died a year ago, was allegedly gang raped on January 10 by around six people and police later rescued her from a locked room, 15-km from the district headquarters. The woman was abducted in a car from Purnea town area. She was later admitted at the government medical college and hospital (GMCH) Purnea for treatment as she was brutally assaulted.
The police lodged an FIR on January 11 on the basis of the statement of the victim against six persons (Three identified and three unidentified) under sections 127 (2) (Wrongful confinement), 115 (2) (Voluntary causing hurt), 137 (2) (Kidnapping), 70 (1) (gang rape), 352 (Intentional insult) and 3 (5) (Crime committed by several persons) of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
