The Punjab Police on Thursday arrested three more people in connection with the gangrape of a 21-year-old woman near Jagraon town in Ludhiana district, PTI reported. The arrested include a juvenile who is a student of class 11, who was nabbed from Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district, said Punjab Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta.
“All six accused involved in the gangrape have been arrested,” said Gupta. The other two accused arrested on Thursday were identified as Saif Ali and Ajay alias Lalan, both residents of Tibba village in Punjab’s Kapurthala district. They were arrested in Talwandi Naubad village in Ludhiana, said Gupta.
The woman was allegedly raped at a farmhouse near Issewal village on the banks of Sidwan canal, about 15 km from Ludhiana, after the car she was travelling in with her friend was stopped and she was dragged out. The men had dragged the two to a secluded spot near the canal and called six to seven more persons, who had allegedly raped the woman.
Three others were arrested on Wednesday and a Ludhiana court had sent them to police custody for a week. They were identified as Sadiq Ali, Jagroop Singh alias Rupi, and Surmo. Gupta said that all the accused are either friends or relatives of the victim.
Deputy Inspector General (Ludhiana Range) Ranbir Singh Khatra on Monday had said that the police had filed a complaint against unidentified persons after the two victims reported the matter on Sunday evening. The accused were booked under sections 376D (gang-rape), 384 (extortion) and 342 (wrongful confinement) of the Indian Penal Code after the police recorded the victim’s statement.
Gupta said the investigation will be completed within a week and the police will try to put up the case before a fast-track court. The woman’s medical report had confirmed rape and sexual assault, he added.
In the Punjab Assembly on Wednesday, the opposition Aam Aadmi Party and Lok Insaaf Party blamed the ruling Congress government for the “deteriorating” law and order situation in the state. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh told the House that he will take up the matter with the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court to ensure speedy justice.
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