Rewari gangrape: Two main accused, including Army man, nabbed

Gurugram: Ten days after a 19-year-old woman from Rewari district was gang-raped, the Haryana Police Sunday arrested two key accused in the case, including an Army man, who kept changing their hideouts when they were on the run.

Army man Pankaj and another key accused Manish were nabbed from Satnali in Mahendergarh district in the morning near a dhaba, head of Special Investigation Team, which had been set up to probe into the case, said briefing the media at Rewari after their arrest.

"The two arrested accused had buried their phone somewhere. Later, with the help of petty criminals they hid at dhanis (hamlets), took shelter in dharamshalas and they slept in fields and hills," SIT chief Naazneen Bhasin, who was flanked by ADGP Shrikant Jadhav, told reporters.

Anyone who might have sheltered the accused during the period they remained on the run will also have to face action, she said.

Without sharing the specific locations of their hideouts, Bhasin, however, said they kept wandering, including along the Haryana-Rajasthan border.

Earlier, on September 16, the Haryana Police had arrested the main accused, Nishu, besides two other accused in the case.

Bhasin said during investigations, Nishu's role has emerged as "mastermind" in the case.

Replying to a question, Bhasin said some of the accused had been involved in organised crime incidents in the past.

Nishu is currently in police remand while other accused Sanjeev and Deendayal have been remanded to judicial custody.

Sanjeev was a medical practitioner who had attended to the woman first after the crime and Deendayal was the owner of the property where she was allegedly gangraped, police had said. Many local villagers have alleged that the property where the victim was gang-raped was used for "nefarious activities" in the past. The SIT said these allegations are already under investigation.