All six suspects in ‘gang rape’ and robbery of army officers arrested

Mhow/Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Three of the remaining accused in the Jam Gate ‘gang rape’ and assault on army officers were arrested from the jungles of Manpur on Friday. Additional SP (rural) Rupesh Dwivedi said Rohit Girwal (23), Sandeep Bariya (18) and Sachin Makwana (25) were arrested from the Palashghat forest area near Manpur on Friday afternoon. They had entered the Palashghat forest after the arrest of their accomplices.

Two young officers (YO) had gone for a picnic with their two girlfriends late on Tuesday night. Accused Anil saw them listening to music in their car around 2.30 am. He called his accomplices, including prime suspect Ritesh, to the spot. They reached the car and first beat up the officers for money. They then allegedly detained an officer and a girl.

The second officer and the other girl were sent to bring Rs 10 lakh. After being informed, the police rushed to the spot and took the captive girl and the officers to the hospital for medical examination. On the complaint of an army officer, the police registered a case under the sections of robbery, molestation and rape with a girl. However, the girl has steadfastly refused to say anything about rape so far.

After a few hours of the incident, Pawan Vasunia and Anil Barod were arrested. One of their accomplices and prime suspect Ritesh Bhabhar was arrested on Wednesday evening. They have been remanded in custody for three days.

Teams of 8 TIs arrest the remaining three suspects

On the instructions of the arrested suspects, the police raided their houses but in vain. Later, the officers received a tip-off about suspects hiding in the jungles of Manpur. Eight TIs (police station-in-charges) were assigned to cordon off the jungles and arrest the suspects. On instructions from senior officials, the teams reached the jungles and managed to arrest three suspects. The police claimed that all the six suspects had been arrested and the three would be produced in court.

Give girl time to recover: IG

IG (rural) Anurag informed Free Press that the girl, who was allegedly raped, had not yet recorded her statement. The gang rape portion was added to the FIR on suspicion and on the complaint of the army officer. We have given the girl time to recover from her trauma after which her statement would be recorded. Further action would be taken only after her statement was recorded, he added.