Four arrested in Gr Noida gang-rape, one on the run

In a breakthrough in the Greater Noida gang-rape case, Gautam Budhh Nagar Police on Thursday arrested three people in connection with the incident.

The auto-rickshaw driver who dropped the victim at Sahara Mall had already been detained by the cops on late Tuesday night. The cops have also seized the car which was used in the crime.

"A total of four people have been arrested in the connection with the gang-rape. The two accused has been identified as auto-rickshaw driver Afridi, and Ashok, a friend of victim's sister's husband.

"Of the three men who raped the victim in their car from Sahara Mall, two have been identified as Naresh Nagar and Rahul Nagar. Another accused, Kishan, is absconding and we are conducting raids at various suspected locations to nab him," said Love Kumar, Senior Superintendent of Police, Gautam Buddh Nagar.

"An FIR has been registered at Kasna police station in Greater Noida and action will be taken against them under IPC section 120B and Immoral Trafficking Act. The car used in the crime was a black Hyundai Santro car and has been recovered," added Kumar.

The gruesome incident took place on Monday night when the victim was allegedly gang-raped by three men in a moving car in Sohna, Haryana, before she was thrown out near a restaurant close to Kasna police station in Greater Noida.

Around 4 am on Tuesday, a passer-by informed police about an unattended woman lying on road.

Police reached the spot and admitted her to Yatharth Hospital. Later, they found liquor bottles at the same spot.

Earlier, police had said that the woman was kidnapped while she was walking on the road and forcefully pulled inside the car by the men. However, police interrogation revealed that the woman was into prostitution and she willingly boarded the car.

The woman was taken to Sahara Mall by the auto-driver Afridi and she was offered to the three accused Naresh, Rahul and Kishan by an agent by the name Ashok, said police.

However, later they had a dispute over the money she was paid and the accused dumped her in Greater Noida and fled the spot.

Before throwing her off the car, all three accused took turns to rape the victim in the car. They had halted the car at an isolated place near Faridabad while committing the crime.

According to police, all three accused hails from a village Imaliya in Greater Noida.

"Naresh and Rahul were into transport business, while Kishan is a cab driver in Gurugram. They went to Sahara Mall to hire a prostitute and contacted the agent Ashok. They paid Rs 3,000 to the auto rickshaw driver who dropped the lady to Sahara Mall."

Appreciating the work done by police in solving the case, Kumar said, "Two police teams were formed, including cops from Kasna police station and Anti-Extortion Squad, to nab the culprits. The police worked

fantastically and solved the case within 48 hours, following which the Additional Director General of Police has declared an award of Rs 15,000 for the police officials".