2 Rewari gangrape key accused held

Rewari, September 23

Ten days after a 19-year-old college girl from Rewari district was allegedly gangraped, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Haryana Police on Sunday arrested two key accused, including an Army man. 

Pankaj Fauji and Manish of Naya Gaon village were nabbed from Satnali in Mahendragarh district.

The other accused — Nishu Phogat, Deendayal, owner of the tubewell room where the girl was allegedly raped, and Sanjeev Kumar, a medical practitioner —  are already behind bars.

“Pankaj and Manish were nabbed in Satnali town at 5 am. They had buried their cellphones before escaping,” Nuh SP Naazneen Bhasin, the SIT head, announced. 

She said the two, aided by petty criminals, remained in hiding at various locations along the Rajasthan border, at times in the fields, and at dharamshalas and dhanis.

“The accused were sighted in Bikaner, Ranthambore and Gogamedi in Rajasthan as well as in Uttarakhand. The SIT, that worked round the clock, followed every lead,” Bhasin said, adding the police were on the lookout for those who had sheltered the absconders.

The SIT chief said they did not rule out the possibility of more persons having been involved. “It was an organised crime. The tubewell room had been reportedly used for nefarious activities in the past too.”  The SP said Nishu appeared to be the mastermind.

The girl was abducted at a bus stop in Kanina in Mahendragarh on September 12. She was allegedly drugged and gangraped. — TNS