Agartala: While the Tripura Police is facing the heat due to protests after the rape of a college student in the outskirts of Agartala, two minor girls were reportedly gang-raped by a group of nine persons in Ompi area under Gomati district on Thursday night.
“Preliminary investigation indicates that both the girls knew the two persons who were involved in the crime. They were Facebook friends,” OC Ompi police station Bideswar Singha told EastMojo.
He said, “The victims are residents of Natunbazar area of the same district and they came to Ompi for the Boishakhi fair which is being held here. So far we know from the investigation that both the girls knew two of the accused persons. On Wednesday night, both the girls reached Ompi to meet the boys at the fair. After spending some time there, both the boys told them that they know a quiet place where they can sit calmly for a while after traversing the fair,” Sinha said.
Later, he said, both the boys took them to an isolated location deep inside the rubber plantation spread over vast tracts of land. “The other accused persons in the case were waiting for them at the location. Once they reached there, both the girls were raped by nine persons,” he added.
Meanwhile, after the inhuman torture, both the girls were driven to the fairground and were threatened to keep quiet. However, the duo reported the incident to the police, and one of the accused was arrested in a short while.
Police sources said three of the eight accused persons who are absconding are found to be minors. The police have launched a manhunt to track the accused persons as soon as possible.
The incident took place close on the heels of another rape case that was reported in Agartala. Women activists of opposition political parties took to the streets citing the incident as a glaring sign of law and order collapse. The police had already arrested the prime accused Gautam Sharma and subsequently awarded a five-day police remand.
Two more persons had been detained, while one of the accused identified as Prasenjit Paul is absconding. Speaking on the issue, SP West Tripura district Kiran Kumar said, “Two persons identified as Goutam Sharma and Sudip Chetri are under police custody. We have picked up another person called Laxman Paul. One accused in the case who could not be arrested is Prasenjit Paul. However, our teams are trying to track down the fugitive.”
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In a new twist in the case, the police seized around Rs 90 lakh cash from the residence of Laxman Paul, a prime accused in the rape case. “We have seized Rs 90 lakh from his residence. The vehicle involved in the crime was also seized. We have also seized some documents with cash that suggest that the accused is running a cricket betting racket. He had illegally lent money to people in lieu of hefty interest rates. We have decided to take up a separate case against him under relevant sections of gambling and money laundering act,” said Kumar.
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