Man accused in Ludhiana gang-rape case arrested

LUDHIANA: Two days after a 20-year-old student was gangraped at Issewal, 25km from here, the Mullanpur Dhaka police on Tuesday arrested the main accused and identified four others.

Sadiq Ali, 24, a Gujjar, of Rehpa village in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (Nawanshahr), was arrested from his house. The other accused are Jagroop Singh of Jaspal Bangar village in Ludhiana, Ajay and Saif Ali of Tibba in Ludhiana and Surmu of Khanpur village of Ludhiana. All are in the age group of 25-30 years, said the police. The victim, a student of cosmetology, and her male friend had to go through a traumatic experience on Saturday night after six men kidnapped them near Issewal Bridge and held them hostage. The woman was gangraped at a

vacant plot in Issewal village the next day, while her friend was physically tortured. The accused had also demanded ₹2 lakh from their friends as ransom.

Confirming the arrest, deputy inspector general of police Ran- bir Singh Khatra said Sadiq confessed to his crime during questioning and also named four other accused.

“Raids are on to arrest them.” he said. The police are probing if they are involved in any other crimes.

The police on Tuesday released sketches of the accused including that of Sadiq. Earlier in the day, police rounded up some men from Issewal and Changna for questioning.

NCW ASKS FOR STATUS REPORT OF CASE

Taking a suo motu cognisance of a media report, the National Commission for Women (NCW) constituted a three-member factfinding team to probe the gangrape. The team, which visited Chandigarh on Tuesday, summoned Mullanpur Dakha station house officer Rajan Parminder Singh and asked him to present a status report of the case.