JAGATSINGHPUR: A rape accused, who had escaped from a government-run hospital during a medical examination, was arrested by Biridi police after an eight-hour search operation on Friday.
The accused, Chilika Ghadei (45), a tractor driver from Adhang Majurai under Biridi police limits, had been admitted to the Biridi community health centre for medical examination in connection with a rape case on Friday. During the examination, he reportedly jumped over the boundary wall of the hospital and fled, evading the police personnel on duty.
Following the incident, a police team led by Jagatsinghpur SDPO Ajinkya Mane rushed to the spot and launched a manhunt. After an extensive eight-hour search, the accused was apprehended from bushes near the Biluakhai riverbed in Balia village within the same police limits in the evening.
Notably, Ghadei was arrested on Thursday on charges of raping a 30-year-old woman. According to a complaint filed by the survivor, Ghadei took her on his scooter while she was walking towards Anakhia market on Monday and assured her that he would drop her home, but instead took her to a temple under Raghunathpur police limits, where he applied sindur on her forehead, and claimed he had married her. He then took her to a relative’s house, where he reportedly raped her, before sending her back home by bus.
The survivor later lodged an FIR at Biridi police station. Police registered a case and began a search for Ghadei, who was absconding since the incident. Ghadei was arrested from his relative’s house near the village, where he was hiding, on Thursday and was taken to the hospital for medical examination on Friday, from where he escaped.
Biridi IIC Sujata Behera said that two separate cases have been registered against the accused. He has been arrested and forwarded to court, she added.